The Missing Hokage
by RaiderXV
Summary: Perfect Lionheart gave a challenge and I could not ignore. Naruto is banished but Tsunade does not accept and takes to the road with Shizune and Hinata. Find out more inside. Sorry for the poor summary but I don't want to give too much away...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, even if I did want too.

This story is based on a challenge put forth by 'The Perfect Lionheart' dealing with Naruto being banished, Tsunade, Shizune and Hinata all joining him. For all the details that he required you should see his profile. He is the author of Chunin day, a neat take off of Ground hog day a really good read.

Other notes: I will be taking a hiatus for the month of November to work on another writing challenge. 50K+ word story in a month. I am hoping I can do it and actually write something that is a good story would be nice. I hope you enjoy the chapter, I will admit it is a little on the cannon side at first. I do have a plot line and how things are going to play out. Some characters will OOC but still stick to the basics of their original personality, some will not.

The Missing Hokage

Chapter 1 – Retrieval… and consequences…

"What am I to you Sasuke?" Naruto asked while yelling at him questioningly.

Sasuke sadly looked down at the water they both stood on. "You, you are my friend, my best friend." Sasuke immediately looked back up at Naruto his Sharingan blazed. "I have to leave that weak village and that is why I have to kill you. To get the power to kill my brother, you wouldn't understand."

"That is bull! You could be so much better than that Sasuke! I won't let you go to that bastard, even if I have to break your arms and legs!" Naruto retorted as he coughed up some blood into the water from his still healing chest. Naruto shifted his stance to all four of his limbs as the chakra cloak surrounded him. The chakra formed a single tail and a pair of fox ears jutting from Naruto's head.

"You said that before and look where it got you, a Chidori in the chest. I don't know how you heal so quickly but I will gain power from killing you." 'What is this power I feel? How does he have such power? He should be dead.' Sasuke's thoughts wandered over what had happened so far.

They had been fighting for over twenty minutes now. Sasuke was at first winning the battle with ease. But Sasuke finally started to understand that Naruto while fighting seriously was not putting his whole heart into the fight. To Sasuke Naruto prattled on and on about how Sasuke was important to him because he thought of him as a brother. 'Brother? Ha! Naruto had never had anyone in his life, I am of the Uchiha and we are the elite. He is nothing and will continue to be nothing. Naruto… but I do feel a connection as you are the one who has been able to push me past my limits where others could not. For that you are my one and only best friend.' Sasuke's musing continued as he contemplated what was happening to Naruto.

Naruto's tail wagged from side to side as the pressure of the chakra increase subsided and only left the vileness of the chakra that had encompassed Naruto. Sasuke watched with his fully developed Sharingan. It had done so only a little while ago in this fight while it might not be enough to win and he needed more to seal his victory and Naruto's death. The curse seal on Sasuke's neck moved across his body and covered him with black patches. "You maybe special but I am more special than you Naruto. I am an Uchiha and you are just a pathetic loser! You always have been and you always will be." Sasuke taunted Naruto.

Naruto disappeared suddenly and reappeared ten meters away he then ran towards Sasuke. "Teme!" Naruto yelled in aggravation. Naruto's features had already gone from normal to feral and now they went to completely wild, his nails had become claws, his canines had elongated, his hair became wilder, his whisker marks became darker, and his eyes had turned from deep cerulean blue to red with slits for pupils.

"Fire Style: Fire ball jutsu!" Sasuke yelled as he sent yet another fireball at Naruto, not unlike the last five had sent at him had done anything more than singe some of his clothes. And the Chidori wound appeared to be nearly healed. Only the hole and the blood on his jacket bore witness that the attack had even hit Naruto.

Naruto swung his arm towards Sasuke and the chakra arm flowed at Sasuke. It slammed into Sasuke from over five meters away, sending Sasuke careening into the canyon wall. Sasuke began to laugh manically. "What is so funny teme?" Naruto yelled asking for an answer.

The dust began to clear and Naruto began to see a sight that shocked and sent a shiver down his spine. Sasuke's curse seal again spread and this time it covered his entire exposed skin turning his pale complexion completely black for a few seconds. Sasuke's hair turned gray, a gray four point star appeared on his face around the nose area. Sasuke's skin turned a putrid shade of gray and then star mark turned black. Sasuke's eyes were now black where the whites should have been, his Sharingan continued to blaze. His chakra became twisted and evil. "You see I am better than you." Sasuke again taunted Naruto.

Naruto reached out with his chakra arm and slammed Sasuke into the leg of the Madara statue at the edge of the waterfall. Naruto was surprised when he looked at Sasuke only to find what looked like clawed and webbed hand protruding from Sasuke's back as if to protect him, Sasuke had grown a grotesque wing. Naruto was suddenly flung across the face of the waterfall into the leg of the First Hokage statue on the other side of the waterfall. When the dust cleared Naruto had started to form a single handed rasengan using both his and the Kyuubi's chakra.

Sasuke grimaced in pain as a second hand came out of his back to give him a pair of grotesque wings. Sasuke then looked at Naruto and saw his left arm hung lifeless and that Naruto was winching in pain. "It seems that this power of yours comes at a price. Time to end this! Chidori!" Sasuke ran through the three familiar seals and then produced a standard Chidori. He then pushed the vile chakra from the seal into the chidori turning it into a sickly black lighting. "One last chance, Naruto do me a favor and just die so that I can have my revenge on Itachi." Sasuke almost pleaded with Naruto.

"No! I promised Sakura-chan I would bring you back and that is what I am going to do! I will not die for you, I have my own dreams. I have been alone too long and I am not going to die here! Not when I have found some people that mean so much to me!" Naruto yelled his reply which only angered the Uchiha even more.

Both jumped in front of the waterfalls and flew towards each other. The attacks connected as 'Chidori' and 'Rasengan' was heard. Both were encompassed by the release of energy from both of the attacks while that release pushed the waterfall back upon itself and up into the air.

Naruto reached forward and scratched Sasuke's hitai-ate, while Sasuke's clawed hand minus the chidori hit Naruto right above the heart. Sasuke smirked as he felt Naruto's sternum break and his hand start to enter Naruto's body. That was until he felt a fist hit him in the right side directly in the ribs, he felt several of his own ribs break as he and Naruto flew apart. Naruto landed on the river bank, rolling onto his back as blood began to pool in the wound in the center of his chest. Naruto's breathing was shallow but still there. Sasuke had bounced off the back of the waterfalls only to land near Naruto only further injuring to his ribs. The sun was slowly being blocked out by the clouds that made a ray of sun that bathed Naruto in an almost angelic light. Sasuke slowly crawled over towards Naruto as he did the ray of sun slowly shrunk to be only a small beam centered on Naruto's face. Sasuke pulled himself towards Naruto as the ray of sun at last disappeared.

Sasuke's bloody hand reached up and touched Naruto's neck as pain wracked Sasuke and thus caused him to collapse. Sasuke's hitai-ate fell as he did this only to land on Naruto's open hand. The rain began to fall and soaked both the boys. A few minutes later Kakashi and Pakun entered 'The Valley of the End.' Both jumped down the walls as the forms of Naruto and Sasuke came into sight.

Kakashi surveyed the two boys. Naruto still bled from the wound in the center of his chest. Sasuke had his hand at Naruto's throat and was dripping blood from his hand and his opened mouth. There were two holes in both of the boy's shirts, Naruto had two in the chest, one filled with bloody water, and Sasuke had two in the back where his wings had sprouted but now they were gone.

"Looks like Naruto accomplished the mission of stopping him. All we need to do now is bring them back to Konoha." Pakun stated.

"I am rather low on chakra and am not sure if I can bring them both back." Kakashi stated bluntly to his canine friend.

"Do I have to drag the Uchiha brat or are you going to take a soldier pill and make a Kage Bunshin?" Pakun inquired, almost annoyed at Kakashi's laziness.

Kakashi finally nodded as the rain subsided and popped a pill in his mouth, he then pulled his mask back into position over his nose and mouth. He then crossed his fingers and stated. "Kage Bunshin." A second Kakashi appeared and picked up Naruto as the original picked up Sasuke. All three leapt back up towards the cliff side and headed back towards Konoha.

--

Kakashi, his clone and Pakun were jumping back through the trees and were suddenly joined by several medical shinobi. "What is the status of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha?" Mitate inquired.

"Sasuke appears to have broken ribs and possible internal injuries. Naruto will be fine." Kakashi stated bluntly. "How are the others?"

"The rest of the team are all back in Konoha having all sustained injuries. Akamichi and Hyuuga are in the most serious condition, while Inazuka sustained serious but not life threatening injuries and Nara sustained the lightest injuries." Mitate stated and then surprise came over his face. "Kakashi-san, you are covered in blood and trailing quite a bit. Did you injure yourself?"

"That is a Kage Bunshin, and no I am not injured." Kakashi replied.

"Then Kakashi stop now! Naruto appears to need immediate medical attention, we will field treat them both now so that we can insure that both your students survive." Mitate demanded as Kakashi and his clone dropped to the ground.

Setting both boys down Kakashi noticed that Naruto's wound had not healed much at all. 'He is healing more slowly than I thought he would.' Kakashi thought as Sasuke coughed up some blood but otherwise was breathing fine. "How are they?" Kakashi asked with worry in his voice.

Mitate had looked over Naruto and continued to shake his head. Migaki spoke up after examining Sasuke. "Uchiha-san should be fine for transport he has broken ribs and a concussion. He has a bruised lung and spleen but otherwise is just suffering from chakra exhaustion."

"Uzumaki-san is suffering from a partial lung, a heart murmur, blood loss and is bleeding internally. I was able to stop the bleeding for now but we need to get him back to Konoha immediately." Mitate stated as he picked up Naruto and jumped off. Migaki picked up Sasuke, Kakashi, Pakun and the last medic all followed them back to Konoha.

--

Back in the Konoha hospital Shikamaru had just been insulted by Temari and his father as Tsunade left the operating room where she had just stabilized Choji condition. "Choji will make it, he is out of the woods now. Shikaku your book on Akamichi medicines was quite impressive. I would not have been able to figure out how to save Choji without it." Tsunade said to Shikaku as she sighed and then sat down.

Everyone turned to a hallway where Shizune appeared. "Tsunade-sama, Tsunade-sama, Kakashi and the second medical team have returned with both Sasuke and Naruto-kun. Naruto-kun is in bad shape and we need to hurry. Also Neji Hyuuga is out of danger and should make a full recovery." Shizune said as she hurried back the way she came.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Shikamaru… you have successfully completed your first mission as leader, congratulations. I will debrief you after we get Naruto out of danger." Tsunade said as she ran off towards her newest waiting patient. 'If Shizune says that Naruto is in bad shape then it must be bad.'

--

Naruto woke up to the smell of antiseptic and bleach. He recognized it as one of the place he hated most, and Naruto did hate this place, he was in the hospital yet again. He opened his eyes and noticed Shikamaru sitting on the bed as he played shogi with himself. "Hey Shika…" Naruto barked out as he startled Shikamaru.

"So you are finally awake. It has only been three days. Man you are troublesome." Shikamaru said with a smile as he handed Naruto a glass of water to quench his parched throat. Naruto graciously accepted the glass and drank it down.

Naruto was brought up to speed with the mission and how he had saved it from failure, but the really good news was that no one in the group had died. Naruto apparently was the closest to death of the team, Choji and Neji were close seconds. Naruto began to plot a prank with Shikamaru on Choji as the door slid open and slammed against the braces. Sakura appeared in the doorway and she appeared to not be pleased. She looked ready to kill, if you were to read the look on her face.

She walked straight over to Naruto and slapped him on the side of the face. She had hit him so hard he went barreling through the window breaking it in the process. Naruto continued out the window and landed on the pavement walkway outside the building.

Naruto landed face first skidding to a halt in front of Kurenai and Hinata. Hinata looked down in fear but was not sure what to do, either pass out or help Naruto. She opted to help Naruto and bent down to help roll him into a laying position. "Naruto-kun, are you okay?"

Naruto was lucky he landed on his head so the injury was lessened at least that was Sakura's opinion as she looked out the window to survey her work. Kurenai looked angrily at the pink haired girl and gently picked up Naruto with the help of Hinata. They proceeded to take him back to his room, quickly.

"What the hell do you think you are doing Sakura? He is severely injured you know!" Shikamaru demanded angrily, yelling at Sakura. Kurenai and Hinata had brought Naruto to the doorway as Shikamaru started his questioning.

Naruto had woke up to Shikamaru's voice and looked to see Hinata with a concerned look on her face and that he was being carried by Kurenai.

"I was getting even with Naruto!" Sakura spat out with so much venom that Naruto winced in phantom pain.

"What the hell are you talking about? He brought back your precious Sasuke! What else did you want from him?" Shikamaru demanded with even more vigor.

"He promised to bring him back! But not in pieces!" Sakura yelled at Shikamaru.

"I told you this might be how it would be, didn't I?" Shikamaru stated.

"Yes, but he hurt Sasuke-kun! And I won't forgive him for that!" Sakura yelled at Shikamaru, she finally noticed that Naruto was back in the room, she then stomped towards him.

"Sakura-chan… what are you doing?" Naruto asked timidly. "He fought me and I did all that I could to bring him back without killing him. I fulfilled my promise to you and brought him back for you…" Naruto stated and coughed up some blood. He then covered his head with his bandaged hands and arms as if knowing that she was going to hit him.

Sakura was moving in for the kill when her fist was intercepted by a hand. "You will leave Naruto-kun alone! He did as you asked you… you… nasty witch! How dare you attack an injured teammate!" Hinata yelled bright red with anger at Sakura.

"What, are you going to defend your lover?" Sakura asked in an annoyed tone.

Hinata immediately turned red, started to push her index fingers together and began to talk unintelligibly. Sakura slapped Hinata and then took aim again at Naruto as she ignored the killing intent rising from both Kurenai and Hinata.

"This is for hurting my Sasuke-kun, I love him and you should have brought him back without hurting him, you monster!" Sakura said as her fist traveled towards the blond.

The light went out in Naruto's eyes as he resigned himself to die at Sakura's hands. Just as Sakura's fist was about to connect Sakura was sent flying into the wall.

"And I love Naruto-kun and you will no longer hurt him!" Hinata yelled at Sakura. Suddenly Hinata realized what she had said she turned to Naruto who looked at her dumbfounded. Hinata turned bright red and promptly fainted. Kurenai raised an eyebrow and smiled warmly at both Naruto and Hinata.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru stated as he moved out the way for Kurenai to set the stunned Naruto back into his bed.

"Yes young girls are that." Tsunade said as she entered the room, picked up Hinata and placed her in the other bed next to Naruto. "Shizune check out Sakura. And when she wakes up put her in lock-down for striking an injured patient."

"Hai Tsunade-sama." Shizune responded with an irritated voice.

"What just happened?" Naruto asked with a look of utter confusion upon his face.

"Well… which part do you want me to explain?" Tsunade asked as she started to examine to Naruto.

"Um… all of it…" Naruto replied.

Tsunade smiled warmly as she did a diagnostic jutsu on Naruto. "Let's see, Sakura is mad at you for doing your duty and hurting Sasuke. You brought him back like I ordered, injured yes but less so than any of you guys other than Shikamaru. Good job by the way. Let's see… Sakura cracked a couple vertebrae, your jaw and your skull. I wasn't even sure that was possible. And Hinata over there declared her love for you, kind of cute if you ask me. She then defended you from attack. So what are you going to about it?" Tsunade asked kindly.

"I don't know…" Naruto replied as he tried to assimilate all the information.

"Well let's start with your report then." Tsunade prodded Naruto gently.

"Well after bushy brows took over the fight with that bone guy for me, I chased Sasuke. The teme kept on taunting me. I tried to talk to him and get him to return but he just laughed at me and called me and the village weak. I punched him trying to knock some sense into him and he tried to kill me for just punching him. We fought and I had to use 'him'. Sasuke pushed a chidori right through my chest, here." Naruto explained as he pointed to his right chest where there was a patch of lighter colored skin. "It was aimed for my heart but I was able to divert it at the last moment. He really wanted to kill me saying that 'killing you will allow me to gain the power I need to kill Itachi' whatever that means. We fought for quite awhile. As the battle began to draw to a close…" Naruto looked down and swallowed hard.

"He called me his best and only friend and that was the reason he had to kill me. He ordered me to die. I got so angry I continued to pulled from my second chakra reserve and again we fought, he transformed into something hideous with wings and all. We made one last attack against each other. He powered up another chidori and I made a Rasengan. They hit and they destroyed each other. I scratched his hitai-tai, and I also got a good hit to his ribs while he dug his clawed hand into my chest."

"Interesting… sounds like the people we fought, they said they were fighting at their second level of their curse seal. Must be what Sasuke was doing." Shikamaru stated.

Kamizuki appeared in the doorway. "Hokage-sama, the council is demanding your presence. I'm sorry Hokage-sama"

Tsunade waves Kamizuki off. "That is okay, what do the old buzzards want now?"

"I don't know but they said it was urgent." Kamizuki replied with a bow.

"Naruto you get to feeling better and keep an eye on that one, she might be a keeper." Tsunade said pointing at Hinata, smiled and ruffling his hair. "And forget about the pink one. She will not let go." Tsunade said with a gentle smile and left the room.

Shizune picked up Sakura and left right behind Tsunade. She deposited her on an empty gurney and followed Tsunade after whispering orders to one of the nurses.

Naruto's eyes moved back and forth between the door and the bed with Hinata. 'What do I do? Sasuke is all Sakura thinks about and wanted. I guess I understood that when I promised her that I would bring him back. Now she hates me for fulfilling my promise to her. She begged me to bring him back. I just figured if I did this she would at least be a little nicer to me.' Naruto thought to himself.

"Hey so what are you going to do? I mean you have the daughter of the Hiashi Hyuuga right there and she professed to be in love with you. I would say that you could do a lot worse. I mean a girl who says she loves you is a good start. Especially for a guy who kept on hitting on the 'Pink Banshee' and would get clobbered every time you ask her out." Shikamaru said with a gentle smile.

Naruto smiled and put his hand behind his head. "Yeah, Sakura can get a little violent. I think I am getting sort of tired of it." Naruto said cheerfully and then looked directly at Shikamaru who had a stunned look on Shikamaru's face. "What?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "What no chan?"

Naruto looked confused for a second and then looked like he was thinking. "Well, I have never had someone say they like me let alone say that they 'love' me. I mean almost the entire female population our age is after Sasuke-teme. I guess I am wondering what it is like to talk to a girl and not have her clobber me for once. Or if she does at least she would say it was because she cared about me."

Hinata had woken before Tsunade had left but feigned being asleep. 'Maybe Naruto-kun will give me a chance.' Were her thoughts as she contemplated what to do next.

--

Tsunade walked into the council chamber in a surprisingly good mood, first Naruto had survived being attacked by Sasuke and second Hinata Hyuuga of all people had stood up to one of the people who had been mean to her adopted son and professed her love for him. Tsunade sat in her chair. "Okay, what is so important that you have to pull me from treating patients and injured shinobi?" Tsunade asked with a sigh.

"Tsunade-hime, are we to understand that the demon-brat brought back the Uchiha boy?" Koharu asked in an angry tone.

Tsunade wore a confused look on her face. "Shikamaru Nara and his team were able to successfully retrieve the missing nin Sasuke Uchiha."

"On that point, the council has decided that Sasuke will not have been listed as missing ninja. A majority of the council feel that 'that' boy was the cause of him leaving in the first place. So no punishment will be put upon Sasuke Uchiha." Homura explained.

Tsunade stood and slammed her fist on the table cracking it. "What? I have five injured genin, and two injured jonin, who had to deal with the group that accompanied Sasuke on his little merry trip to go see Orochimaru. And you want to just set him free. He severely injured one of my genin personally, with the intention of killing him."

"His death would have been immaterial. The important fact is that Sasuke is back in the village." Koharu stated.

A large group of the clans grumbled at that statement but were outnumbered by the older shinobi and civilians on the council.

"You see Tsunade-hime. We know you favor the boy and are just making sure that the interests of the village are looked after before your own personal agenda is satisfied. It has also been decided that the 'demon-child' will either be exiled or if you prefer we could have him executed if he does not accept exile." Danzou stated.

"What are you thinking? He is Konoha's jinchuuriki. There is also Akatsuki to worry about. Aren't you worried about what they might do to Naruto?" Tsunade asked as her worry piled up.

"We are strong enough a village now that we can deal with a few missing nins." Danzou stated.

"They are all 'A' ranked or higher. One even slaughtered his own clan. Now why do you want to exile Naruto so badly?" Tsunade asked pointedly.

"He is guilty of stealing, making a general nuisance of himself and injuring a fellow shinobi." Homura stated.

"Which shinobi are we referring too?" Tsunade asked not liking where this was going.

"First we must point out Sasuke Uchiha, and second we point out Mizuki Touji." Koharu stated.

"Both were traitors. Mizuki was trying to steal the forbidden scroll and Sasuke left without permission and was traveling to a known enemy." Tsunade protested.

"It is our understanding that Naruto Uzumaki stole the scroll." Homura replied.

"Only after being coerced into it, by being told that he could pass the genin exam if he delivered it to Mizuki, thus Mizuki is the guilty party." Tsunade protested.

"Naruto still stole the scroll and that in itself is a crime punishable by death." Koharu replied angrily.

"And he severely injured Sasuke Uchiha while he was supposed to retrieve him. We might have lost the Uchiha line permanently." Homura answered.

"Uchiha resisted and force was required to bring him back. I authorized force to be used if necessary. And why are you so worried about the Uchiha line?" Tsunade said.

Hiashi stood and yelled. "I have had enough of this witch hunt. I am leaving!" Hiashi got up and left taking along with him Shibi Aburame, Tsume Inuzuka, Choza Akimichi, Shikaku Nara and the Inoichi Yamanaka.

"Now we can actually some business done without them being here and in the way. We do have a quorum. And thus we can pass what is needed for this village. Also we know that the Fire Daimyo will sign off on the order to either exile Uzumaki or execute him. So it is up to you to decide. You have a week to have him prepared for his exile or his death." Danzou stated as he and the rest of the council left leaving Tsunade nearly in tears.

"I will not sign the order so you on the council will have to do your own dirty work. I will of course inform him. Mark my words others will not be pleased with what you are doing and Konoha will suffer." Tsunade walked out of the council chambers and into her office. She began to weep uncontrollably as she slumped into her chair.

--

Tsunade was sitting at her desk while Shizune continued to try to calm her down and not let her do anything rash. "They want to either kill Naruto, Shizune, or have him exiled." Tsunade said as tears ran down her face.

"It can't be that bad Lady Tsunade." Shizune tried to reassure Tsunade.

"No it is worse they want to put a deadline on his leaving and he isn't even out of the hospital yet. Those injuries he got would have killed even a Sannin. Sasuke's injuries are light compared to the others except for maybe Shikamaru. He maybe a dimwit but he is the reason I came back here. If they send him away I have no reason to be here, the village be damned." Tsunade said with conviction.

"Lady Tsunade! We can't abandon the village like that, it wouldn't be right." Shizune lectured Tsunade.

"This time the village is abandoning us, especially 'him'. It isn't his fault that the Kyuubi is stuck in him." Tsunade sobbed out.

"Yes it is fault of my student and his effort to protect this village. So when are we leaving with the gaki?" Jiraiya asked with a lecherous grin while he sat on the window sill.

Tsunade attitude changed and she got a gleam in her eyes. "You are not leaving but I have an idea. I need you to cover for me for a while so that I can do something with the Yondaime's legacy." Tsunade said with a wicked grin as she pulled out a picture of Hinata Hyuuga.

"What about the Hyuuga girl?" Jiraiya said with distain.

"She is quiet but powerful. She also showed me something that I like. She appears interested in our favorite gaki." Tsunade said with a grin. "Jiraiya seal up all of Naruto's stuff and have it here in the morning. Shizune find me Hinata Hyuuga, I have an apprentice to appoint and some paperwork to fill out."

"Aye-Eei! Are you feeling alright Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked as Jiraiya slipped out the window towards Naruto's apartment.

--

Naruto was just waiting for the nurse to arrive thus bringing him his nightly dinner. The door opened and a dejected looking Jiraiya and a somber looking Iruka entered. "Yo gaki, want to go out to ramen our treat?" Jiraiya asked in a somber mood.

Naruto was not sure how to react. First Tsunade-obaachan had said he needed to stay in the hospital but now Jiraiya and Iruka-sensei were offering to have him go out to dinner with them. Naruto did not quite trust Jiraiya because of his training and leaving him with the bill. "What's the catch Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked with a questioning look.

"Can't I take my favorite gaki out to dinner?" Jiraiya asked innocently.

"Right, last time you said you would treat I ended up paying for it." Naruto said with a huff.

"It isn't my fault you misunderstood what I was talking about when I said we would go eat your favorite food." Jiraiya pleaded innocently.

"And then you had me get clobbered by Sakura as part of training. What was that all about?" Naruto replied angrily.

"What no chan for poor Sakura?" Jiraiya inquired playfully as Iruka had also noticed the missing chan suffix on Sakura's name also.

"Not after what she did to me earlier today! She punched me out through a window, through a Window! Talk about adding insult to injury. And then Hinata-chan defended me…" Naruto replied with a blush, he was not sure why he was blushing. He knew he was blushing and it just seemed to come naturally.

"What's wrong with a little punch Tsunade-hime does it to me all the time." Jiraiya responded and he did notice the blush on Naruto's face at the mention of the Hyuuga girl.

"What? Sakura assaulted you while you were in the hospital? We are on the second floor. I know the Kyuubi heals you pretty quickly, but Naruto that just isn't right. With Jiraiya-sama, Lady Tsunade will heal him up after hitting him. I know that Sakura doesn't have those skills." Iruka stated as he shook his head. "So Hinata defended you? Was this before or after you were sent out the window. And why did Sakura send you out the window Naruto?"

Naruto took a minute to think then proceeded to explain what happened. "You see it is all Sasuke-teme's fault. Sakura loves him and hit me because I hurt that teme. That was the only way to bring him back, there was no other way. As for Hinata-chan defending me… well… Kurenai-sensei brought me back up to the room after Sakura sent me flying. When we got back into the room Sakura was going to hit me again but Hinata stopped her…" Naruto explained while his face turned red.

"What did she say gaki?" Jiraiya prodded with a lecherous look in his eyes.

"Sakura said that she loved Sasuke, and Hinata-chan… said…" Naruto gulped and turned even redder than before.

"Yes?" Jiraiya asked as he moved closer to Naruto and drew out the 'yes'.

Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "She said she loved me okay!" Naruto yelled out only to pull the covers over his head.

Iruka beamed with joy, Hinata seemed to have gotten over her shyness and admitted her affection to the blond he considered a son or a younger brother. "That is great Naruto. Now you will treat her right won't you?"

Naruto lowered the covers with a confused look on his face. "What do you mean, why wouldn't I? She is a friend." Naruto replied.

Iruka slammed his hand onto his forehead. "Naruto are you going to reject her right off the bat are you?" Iruka asked not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"What do you mean? I like her but I don't know if I love her…" Naruto responded but it sound half hearted.

"Naruto get dressed and we will go out to eat. We will also have a talk. Actually we have a few things to discuss, including your new girlfriend and how to treat her." Jiraiya said throwing a fresh pair of clothes to the blond.

Naruto did as he was told but not sure if he wanted to know what this 'talk' was all about. Naruto, Iruka and Jiraiya left the hospital saying they would return the patient in an hour or two.

--

"Hinata-sama, you have a guest at the front gate. It is Shizune-san with a message from Hokage-sama." Neji said in a flat tone but with a gentle smile.

"Thank you Neji-niisan. I will be there in a few moments." Hinata responded as she pulled her jacket back on and headed towards the front gates of the Hyuuga complex. Hinata bowed as she passed several branch family members who smiled and returned the bow.

Shizune smiled warmly to Hinata and waited until she was standing right in front of her before addressing Hinata. "Hokage-sama requests your presence before her immediately."

"Hai." Hinata responded as she fell into step behind Shizune as they walked towards the Hokage's tower.

--

"Naruto before we begin I want to explain something to you." Jiraiya said in a serious voice as they sat down in their stools at Ichiraku ramen stand. Naruto nodded he understood he needed to listen.

Jiraiya sighed first then looked directly into Naruto's eyes. "Hurting a teammate when they are injured is not how you conduct a relationship, friendship, or teamwork. I know you have a thing for that pink haired girl. Sakura isn't it? A crush so to speak, but that is all it is. She has rejected you how many times?" Jiraiya inquired.

"I don't know, I haven't counted for years." Naruto replied with an annoyed tone.

"Let me ask you this then. Has she ever accepted your invite to lunch or dinner dates?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah, once right before Sasuke ran away." Naruto replied not sure what Jiraiya was getting at.

"Did you talk about each other? About say, what your plans for the future are? Did she seem interested in what you had to say?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto's face saddened. "No I tried to talk about lots of things but she seemed distracted and all she wanted to talk about was Sasuke…" Naruto replied and drew out Sasuke's name.

"Naruto, Sakura has been chasing after Sasuke since before the academy. She, like a lot of the girls of your generation were and still are fans of Sasuke. Hinata was one of the only one who seemed immune to Sasuke's supposed charm, she on the other hand appears to have fixated on you, Naruto. While Sakura likes you at most as a friend, Hinata seems to be more interested in you than she is any of the other boys. She has kept an eye on you from afar for a long time." Iruka said quietly.

"Hinata, yeah that pale eyed Hyuuga girl? Yeah she only seems to hang around here when you are here Naruto-kun." Ayame commented. "You could do worse. That pink haired girl seems nice but she did not appear to have any interest in you at all."

Naruto brightened almost ready to defend Sakura but then became depressed. "But Sakura… Hinata… Could you guys be right? Ah!! I'm so confused…" Naruto yelled in a panic.

"That is a good place to start Naruto-kun." Ayame smiled as she began to talk and serve the guys their ramen.

--

Hinata knocked on the door of the Hokage's office only to hear a muffled 'Come in…'

Hinata bowed and looked at Tsunade. "You called for me Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade finished writing on the sheet of paper in front of her.

Tsunade smiled and looked at the young girl her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying recently. "Hinata Hyuuga I have a few questions for you and please answer the questions honestly."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Hinata answered sharply but quietly.

"How would you like to become my apprentice?" Tsunade asked as she folded her hands in front of her chin.

Hinata blushed with surprised look on her face. "Me? Why me?"

"Well… between you and me I need someone with excellent chakra control. Being a Hyuuga you fit the bill. You also more than likely to have some knowledge of healing already. This will help me in my instruction of an apprentice." Tsunade pointed out.

"I would love to become your apprentice. I am not afraid of hard work Tsunade-sama. What are your other questions?" Hinata asked.

"Well… were you serious with your statement in Naruto's hospital room? I am sorry to be so blunt and put you on the spot like this but I need to know." Tsunade asked with a warm smile on her face. Hinata blushed and nodded. Tsunade smiled at her acknowledgement. "For my next question I have to make you swear to secrecy. What I am going to tell you is a secret and I need you to not spread it." Tsunade looked at Hinata closely.

Hinata contemplated what Tsunade had said to her. "You can trust me Hokage-sama. I can keep a secret Tsunade-sama."

"Good… Naruto has been exiled by the council." Tsunade stated bluntly. She then waited to gauge the girl's reaction.

Hinata became angry and tears welled in her eyes. "No! They can't do that! That is the Hokage's job. He has done nothing wrong! No… they can't do that to my Naruto-kun!" Hinata protested adamantly.

"Okay given that… What would you do for Naruto?" Tsunade asked with a smirk hoping for a certain reaction.

"I would do anything. I… I w… would…" Hinata's gulped and puts on a stern face. "I would even face my father to help Naruto-kun." Hinata said as she trembled with both frustration and anxiety, her fists clenched.

Tsunade smirked. "How would you feel about leaving the village with Naruto, Shizune, Tonton and me? If I were to say leave the village with Naruto. Would you come with us?" Tsunade watched the emotions play over Hinata's face.

"Hai, Hokage-sama, I would leave with you and Naruto-kun. If only to be near him." Hinata replied, the last comment was barely audible.

Tsunade smiled. "Good then pack up and we leave tomorrow morning at six am. Naruto and Shizune will be accompanying us. You are now officially my apprentice. Please sign here and make it official." Tsunade pointed to a paper which Hinata promptly signed. "Maybe we could work on getting our idiot to notice you…" Tsunade chided with a wink.

Hinata smiled and blushed. "I… I would like that…" Hinata began to press her index fingers together in a nervous habit.

--

A/N: I hope you liked the chapter. Please let me know how you like the story. Yes I know starting a new story is silly when I have at least 6 others to work on. I have new chapters for most of them but still need to do finishing touches on them. I look forward to your feedback. I will try to update all my stories by the end of the month.

This chapter hits a milestone, nearly 7k words in just story. If you see some items borrowed from my other stories I might have as there is a theme to this story. I have tried not to borrow from other authors but I might, but will try to ask them for permission to use their ideas. I have Chapter 2 completed just need to get the finishing touches before I post it, it is nearly 5k words.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See chapter 1... hehehe (I liked that from another author)

Here we go again with the misadventures of Tsunade, Shizune, Hinata and everyone's favorite blond Naruto.... Enjoy...

Chapter 2 – Embarking…

Naruto woke early to a nudge from a certain perverted sage. "Yo, gaki wake up. Time to go… I got everything packed for you. Go take a shower and get yourself cleaned up and put on the clothes I put on your bed." Jiraiya explained as he put a pack on Naruto's bed.

Naruto groggily got out of the hospital bed. He then stripped off his clothes and his bandages. He then swiftly took his shower. He reentered the room to find both Jiraiya and Iruka both waiting for him. "No orange today gaki and the hiatate will stay here. Until we can get things fixed you are no longer a shinobi of the leaf. You are still my student and I expect you to learn a lot while you're gone. Now get dressed." Jiraiya ordered.

Naruto put on the clothes, dark blue shinobi pants, shirt and jacket. There was also a chunin vest. Naruto looked at Jiraiya questioningly, as Jiraiya just nodded. Iruka smiled as Naruto face lit up at the prospect of wearing a chunin vest. "One of Hokage-sama's gifts, you are now a chunin. It was a field promotion for successfully completing the mission. Now get to the west gate and meet up with your traveling companions. I am sure you'll enjoy them." Iruka explained with wink at Jiraiya.

Naruto grabbed his pack which was unusually light for what he normally packed. He jumped out the window and headed towards his apartment. He entered and looked around his apartment and only the furniture was left. Naruto took one depressed look at both Jiraiya and Iruka and then ran into Iruka's arms. He hugged Iruka fiercely. "I will miss you too Naruto. You are like a little brother to me. Good luck on your journey. I hope you can come back stronger." Iruka said as a single tear ran down his face.

Naruto next embraced Jiraiya with a hug just as fierce. "I will miss you too gaki. You are like a grandson to me. I will do what I can to make you be able to come back and maybe take that Hokage position you want so badly."

Naruto not wanting to show weakness smiled, waved and ran towards the gates. He found three cloaked figures, one slightly shorter than himself.

"About time you got here, now put this on." He recognized Tsunade's voice as she threw him a cloak. "ANBU no one is to follow us from the village for the first day." Tsunade said to no one in particular.

The smallest cloaked figure moved closer to Naruto. "I am glad I could accompany you on your trip Naruto-kun." Naruto froze as he recognized the voice as Hinata's.

"Okay let's move out." Tsunade stated as they headed out of the village. A few miles down the road Tsunade spoke up. "We are not missing nin. We are independent shinobi. Naruto you know why we are leaving the village, right?"

Naruto's face fell and he nodded. "Yeah, I guess. It is because I hurt their precious Uchiha, right?" Naruto drug the 'e' in precious out on purpose for effect. Tsunade nodded.

"Do you want to tell Hinata here the other reason? I am sure she will understand and not hate you for it. I would do it now so that she will not be surprised later." Tsunade almost ordered.

Naruto looked dejected. "Ah man! Do I have to tell her?" Naruto whined like he always did. But Hinata shocked as she noticed a tinge of fear evident in his eyes.

"Yes gaki you do! If you don't I will. Like I said we don't want to surprise her later." Tsunade replied nearly scolding Naruto. Her tone sounded more like a mother scolding a child. Hinata nearly laugh but thought otherwise as she noticed the concern weaved into her voice.

Naruto sighed and then glanced around looking for a place to sit down, finding a fallen log. He sat down on the log and motioned for Hinata to join him. Hinata sat down as Naruto gulped loudly before he took a deep breath. "Hinata… do you remember the stories of the Kyuubi attack on village almost thirteen years ago?" Naruto inquired.

"Y… yes, it is said that the Yondaime Hokage killed the great demon Kyuubi by sacrificing himself for the village." Hinata responded.

Gulping again Naruto replied. "Well, you only know part of the truth."

"What d… do you mean 'only part of the truth'?" Hinata questioned.

As Naruto looked at Hinata, he sighed and thought. 'I guess this is it. It is either now or never.' "It is true that the Yondaime did sacrifice himself to 'stop' the Kyuubi."

Hinata's face went from expressionless to fearful. "What do you mean that he mean that he only stopped the Kyuubi? Didn't it die?'

"The Kyuubi is a Bijuu and thus impossible to kill. There is only one way to stop them. You need to seal inside something like we seal thinks using sealing scrolls. But with the more powerful ones there are special requirements." Naruto continued.

'Special requirements? What does he mean by special requirements?' Hinata thought as Naruto continued his explanation.

"The Kyuubi, having nine tails of power is so powerful that it would need something with the will power to suppress it and have chakra coils that could expand to deal with the strain of the additional chakra it would be giving off." Naruto's reflected his worry as he saw Hinata's face became more and more filled with rage. "Only a newborn child would be able to handle the added strain and be able to grow under such a predicament." Naruto took a deep breath and then looked deep into Hinata's eyes, hope showed as Naruto asked his next question. "Do you know what day my birthday is?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Y… yes I do. It is October 10th." Hinata replied without thinking. A moment later she had pieced the puzzle together and gasped at the implications. Naruto closed his eyes, lowered his head as he awaited Hinata's response of fear and loathing. That did not happen. Instead he felt a drop of moisture land on his hand. He opened his eyes to see Hinata crying before she wrapped her arms around him and proceeded to bury her head in his chest. Wincing in pain Naruto looked up at Tsunade as if to questioning what to do next.

He gaze was rewarded by seeing Tsunade and Shizune both crying. "Looks like you're stuck with her kid." Tsunade said with a chuckle once the crying had subsided.

Naruto sighed gently as he placed his hand upon Hinata's head. Hinata looked up at Naruto with sad eyes. "I am sorry Naruto-kun that you had to have such a burden for so long and I didn't realize your pain. Please forgive me." Hinata again buried her head in Naruto's chest eliciting a slight 'umph' from Naruto. Hinata didn't raise her head and apologized. "Sorry…"

"That's alright…" Naruto said as he lifted Hinata's face to look at him. "Hinata-chan?" Naruto inquired.

"Yes Naruto-kun…" Hinata answered.

"Did you mean what you said back in the hospital? And now that you know my secret do you still feel the same way?" Naruto queried.

Hinata nodded and stammered out her response. "Naruto-kun is Naruto-kun!" She then put her head down on his chest as her blush made red apples look pale in comparison.

Naruto just smiled warmly as he brushed her hair with his hand for several minutes as Hinata composed herself. "Better?" Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded and extracted herself from Naruto. She was still blushing but had at least gone back to a pink shade.

"So Hinata do you have a problem with Naruto being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi?" Tsunade solicited a shake of Hinata's head. "Good now we can continue. Shizune you got everything that I told you take care of last night, didn't you?"

Shizune nodded. "Yes Tsunade-sama. The money is sealed in one of the scrolls as is your hat. The scroll of Sealing and a couple other scrolls are sealed in another scroll. Sarutobi-sama's summoning scroll in that scroll too. I have the Fourth's special dagger and notes on Hiraishin no jutsu. I also have copies of jutsu from Hiashi for Hinata to study." Shizune's statement caused both Hinata and Naruto to take notice that Hiashi had given something to them before they had left specifically for Hinata.

Hinata helped Naruto stand up off the log and noticed he was in pain. "Tsunade-sama Naruto-kun isn't doing so good! He needs some help!" Hinata yelled as she brought Naruto's arm over her shoulder just as Naruto collapsed into her. "I think he passed out. P… please… help him…" Hinata begged.

Tsunade pointed to a spot on the ground free of debris."Set him there I need to check him. Also use your Byakugan to check his chakra network." Tsunade ordered as Hinata gently placed Naruto on the ground.

Hinata activated her Byakugan as Tsunade did a diagnostic jutsu. "Shizune! Naruto is suffering from internal bleeding again. Apparently he can only take so much Kyuubi chakra for repairs. We need to patch him up again." Tsunade turned to Hinata. "He will be okay and don't blame yourself for his injuries. I am sure he was pushing himself too hard and opened up one of the sutures in his lungs. We can fix it but what do you expect from him. He wasn't supposed to leave the hospital until the end of the week."

"But Tsunade-sama… I am sure that my jumping on him hurt him. So it is my fault." Hinata said as her eyes filled with tears.

"Naruto had his chakra network separated from his heart and his heart nearly shredded. I thing he will survive this. So tell me what you see." Tsunade ordered gently.

Hinata gulped down her tears and looked at Naruto's chest. His chakra network was in shambles near his lungs. There was red chakra surrounding the injury but it was slowly fixing the damage. "Tsunade he only has a few chakra veins going into his arm. His lung does not have a chakra system at the moment. I do see red chakra building chakra veins in the area but will take a long time at the rate they are going. They appear to be repairing a short length then heal the area around the length but the healing is faster than I have seen anyone heal."

"It must be the Kyuubi trying to repair the damage. When we put him back together he was a mess. He had a bruised heart and his right lung was missing. It was growing slowly and we estimated it would take about a week to be fully repaired. I guess my estimates were right." Tsunade looked around the area and pulled out a scroll.

"What is that scroll?" Hinata asked as she held Naruto's hand and stroked his faced gently which elicited a weak smile.

"Oh, this, it's a camping equipment scroll. Shizune, gather some firewood. Hinata I want you to sleep with Naruto tonight." Tsunade appeared to order Hinata. Hinata promptly passed out next to Naruto. "Jeez, I meant she would need to sleep in the same sleeping bag so that Naruto would not get cold." Tsunade stated as she chuckled at Hinata's antics.

Tsunade and Shizune both made camp using the tents and equipment sealed up in the scroll. Shizune had just placed Naruto in a double wide cot inside of a sleeping bag. Tsunade had gotten the fire started when Hinata had woken up. "Good evening sunshine." Tsunade teased the young Hyuuga. "I wanted to apologize and say that I didn't mean what you thought I meant earlier. I want you to share the sleeping bag with Naruto so that he doesn't get cold tonight. I just figured you wouldn't mind. I mean Shizune could do it if you would like." Tsunade teased both Hinata and Shizune.

Hinata pressed her fingers together in her familiar nervous habit. "I… I would like to help Naruto-kun…" Hinata replied nervously.

Tsunade smiled gently. "Take good care of my little brother." Tsunade's face changed to a stern look. "We are going to start the both of you in your training tomorrow. Hinata, I know that you have good chakra control. We need Naruto to have similar control. Because of the Kyuubi his chakra reserves are enormous. That and his family also had large reserves."

"You knew Naruto-kun's family? You should tell him." Hinata pleaded with Tsunade. "It might help him to know he was loved. Everyone in the village treated him badly and for something he couldn't control."

"I knew his parents but I will explain it later. For now you can tell him that he was loved by his parents and he can verify it with me. He is not ready for this truth, not yet. Now eat your dinner and go lay down beside your boyfriend." Tsunade teased as she handed Hinata a plate of food.

"What about Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked as she took the plate.

"He should be out for the night. Shizune and I will keep watch. You just keep your Naruto-kun warm tonight." Tsunade ordered.

Hinata blushed and smiled. "Hai, Tsunade-sama!"

"That's my girl." Tsunade stated as she handed a second plate to Shizune and filed a last plate for herself.

Hinata snuggled up beside a shivering Naruto. He settled down after awhile as her body heat helped heat him back up. Hinata slept the best she had in years and woke to see Naruto's gentle whiskered face.

Tsunade walked over the sleeping pair and gently touched Naruto' shoulder. "Naruto… Naruto… It is time to wake up. And be careful about it you are injured."

Naruto's eyes flittered open as he looked to see Hinata looking at him from inside the same sleeping back.

"Morning Naruto-kun… I… I…" Hinata took a deep breath as her face turned from pale to pink in a moment's time.

"Baa-chan? Why is Hinata's face turning red?" Naruto inquired.

"Well gaki… you see, Hinata here is shy and she likes you. You are in the same sleeping bag and she is not used to that being brought up as proper lady." Tsunade replied.

"How would I know anything about a proper upbringing? I didn't have anyone other than Jiji for a long time. I missed out on a lot." Naruto looked away his eyes sad.

"Naruto-kun, I… I am here for you. We will try to help you where we can." Hinata said with all the courage she could muster.

Tsunade did a diagnostic on Naruto and shook her head. "Naruto… What am I going to do with you? I always seem to be patching you up from a lethal injury."

"Can I help it if I keep on getting the bad luck of the draw in getting opponents who want to kill me for some reason?" Naruto retorted.

"Well your internal bleeding has stopped and your lung will take about two weeks to repair itself. I am thinking we need to find a little more permanent lodging for us so that we can get you healed up and ready for your training under me." Tsunade stated with a broad smile.

"What do you mean training under you? I thought ero-sennin was my sensei like Kakashi-sensei." Naruto stated as he noticed Tsunade wince at the mention of Kakashi. "What?"

Tsunade's face furrowed in both anger and disappointment as she looked at Naruto. "I looked at the report the Kakashi filed and the ones the medical team filed. What has Kakashi done with your training?" Tsunade asked as she knelt near the cot.

Naruto looked up and to the right as he pondered the question. "Well he did teach us chakra tree climbing. Other than that we would mold chakra and do tai-jutsu training."

"Was it training or just sparing?" Tsunade asked.

"Well it was mostly sparing as he would pit me against both Sakura and Sasuke-teme." Naruto looked suddenly depressed. "He wouldn't even get me a decent trainer for the chunin exams."

Tsunade looked surprised. "I thought Jiraiya trained you for the chunin exams."

"Yeah after Kakashi dumped me for teme and gave me closet pervert Ebisu, special jonin trainer." Naruto mocked the title for Ebisu and caused Hinata to giggle. "I like your laugh Hinata-chan, you should do it more often."

"Thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata blushed as she replied.

"Okay you got Ebisu as a trainer what did he teach you?" Tsunade inquired.

Naruto took a deep breath and started the story. "Well I was not pleased with being dumped for teme so closet-perv and I played a game of tag. I lost and Ebisu took me out to lunch. He insulted me about my chakra control, big news to me. I have a ton of chakra and no control. Sakura has practically nothing for chakra and near complete control. So he went on about how they had better control than me and took me to the hot springs."

"To peak on women no doubt." Tsunade added as she rolled her eyes.

"Well… not really he showed me… or at least tried to show me how to walk on water. I got burnt and soaked by this and almost had it until I saw ero-sennin peeping." Naruto chuckled. "You see, Jiraiya flattened out Ebisu with a toad summons." Tsunade smiled at this. "Yes super pervert clobbers closet pervert. Well I chased Jiraiya until I captured him. He still wouldn't train me. Well he owed me training as he took my only trainer." Naruto pleaded to Tsunade, and Shizune's laughter.

"Well I had to persuade him…" Naruto bashfully explained to a raised eyebrow of Tsunade. "I call it my sexy jutsu. It works on all perverts, it is a great distraction jutsu."

"I think I have heard of it." Tsunade said as she took a seat on her own cot.

Naruto stood up with great pain and the help of Hinata. Naruto used the hand signs for the transformation jutsu. "Sexy jutsu." Naruto said quietly transforming into a female about twenty years old, well endowed, with two blond pony tails and wearing a pink kimono.

Tsunade looked on with an appraising eye. "She could be somewhat distracting, I will give that she is pretty. So what causes it to be a true distraction?" Tsunade asked before she figured that she would regret her decision. Hinata smirked and lowered her head, shaking it all the while.

"You asked for it. Sexy jutsu." Naruko smirked as her clothes disappeared and revealed a buxom beauty of a girl, whiffs of smoke covering her nipples and genital areas. "This is the true sexy jutsu."

Tsunade smirked wildly. "I can see why it would cause a distraction. You got some very nice measurements. If you ever give up being a boy you would make a beautiful girl." Tsunade teased as Naruko turned into puff a smoke showing Naruto back to his normal form with a scowl. Hinata seemed disappointed and happy at the same time by the change. "What is that look for Hinata?"

Hinata blushed red instantly. "Naruto-kun is both handsome and beautiful." Hinata replied as she buried her face under the sleeping bag.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Naruto your jutsu appeared not to be genjutsu but an actual transformation. Am I correct?"

"Yeah, it is an actual transformation. I can't do genjutsu to save my life." Naruto replied not sure if he should be disappointed or proud.

"The transformation jutsu is normally a genjutsu, not an actual transformation. There is a transformation jutsu but it is a jonin level jutsu. I am not sure how you are able to do it but you can do that jutsu without any of the required hand signs. Also the jutsu is in the forbidden scroll. Do you know why?" Tsunade asked as both Naruto and Hinata shook their heads. "The jutsu requires more chakra than the normal transformation jutsu and can become permanent by rerouting your chakra network. You stumbled upon an improved version of the jutsu and have perfected it. I would say that we need Hinata to watch you perform the jutsu over time so that we can see if you have done something with how you mold the chakra that is different and would make it easier for us to use that jutsu rather than the genjutsu version."

Naruto sat down and wore a confused look. "Why?"

"Well genjutsu gives off signs that it is there, your jutsu does not. For all we know it is related to the Kyuubi and would be a bloodline limit for you. Now back to your story." Tsunade smiled as she asked for Naruto to continue.

"Well… ero-sennin watched me try to do water walking and asked me to mold some chakra. I was in my boxers so I wouldn't get all my clothes wet again. He hit my seal with his hand, I later found out from him that he removed a second seal that Orochimaru-teme had placed on me during the second part of the chunin exams, it had really messed my chakra up." Naruto explained.

"So you fought Kiba-kun with a seal on top of the Kyuubi seal?" Hinata gasped as she inquired.

Naruto smiled. "Yep, had I had access to all my chakra Kiba wouldn't have stood a chance. But I continued anyways despite the handicap. After ero-sennin removed the seal I could walk on water without much problem. We then went on to learning summoning, I summoned Gamabunta, but only after he threw me off a cliff." All the females gasped at Naruto's comment. "I went on to beat some sense into Neji and then beat some sense into Gaara of the Desert."

"Wait you beat Gaara?" Tsunade asked pointedly.

"Yeah, Gamabunta and I beat him when he went into his fully transformed state." Naruto explained as if it was normal.

"You took on Shukaku the one-tailed demon form of the Ichibi jinchuuriki?" Tsunade asked almost incredulously.

"Yeah I did. It took nearly everything I had, but I was able to beat him and scare him into going back to Suna." Naruto replied almost angrily as Hinata rubbed his back affectionately. Naruto froze as he felt the hand moving up and down his back. Naruto not used to affection had frozen and was not sure what to do.

"What is wrong Naruto?" Tsunade inquired with a worried look.

Naruto hesitated in responding. "I am not sure what to do."

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked as she continued to gently caress his back.

Naruto gulped. "No one has ever rubbed my back to try to comfort me. Sure, maybe a pat on the back from Iruka or Jiji… but they would never rub."

All three females looked sadly at Naruto as Hinata embraced him from behind. "It is alright Naruto-kun we are here for you now and we promise you will get the treatment you deserve."

Naruto weakly smiled as he was still not sure how to deal with the situation. With the pain and the new feelings he could not put on his mask. "What do we do now?" Naruto asked as he was nearly in overload from affection.

"We have breakfast then head in any direction we can to get away from Konoha for a little while. Or until the council comes to their senses." Tsunade responded as she walked out of the tent and began to cook the food with Shizune.

Naruto extracted himself from Hinata as gently as he could and apologized. "Hinata-chan, please do not get me wrong. I do like you but I am still new to affection from someone who likes me more than a friend. I know I love to hug and play around. I do enjoy hugs I am just not used to them." Naruto stated sadly. "Can I have more?" Naruto asked almost pleading.

Hinata nodded as she had thought he would want her to stop giving him affection. It was just that he was not used to it so he wanted to make sure he did not make a mistake and hurt her. She was happy as she again wrapped him in a hug. They stayed that way until they were called out to breakfast.

Naruto offered Hinata his hand as he went for the opening of the tent. "You coming?"

Hinata nodded and took his hand. They left the tent together as they went towards the campfire.

"Okay, you are both now my apprentices. You will do what I tell you and when I tell you. Got it?" Tsunade stated more than asked. Hinata nodded enthusiastically. Naruto looked at her with a mix of confusion and challenge in his eyes.

Shizune handed them a plate and a book named 'Basic Human Anatomy'. "Here is breakfast and your work for today. We will be studying the human body to become medics. As Naruto-kun will have to take it easy we will train his mind first then we will train his body. I know if you can do the Rasengan you can do simple diagnostic jutsu. Tsunade-sama and I want to take your control to new heights." Shizune raised her hand to forestall any complaints she knew were coming. "I know you have poor chakra control because you have large amounts of chakra. Hinata-san and I will help you with chakra control, even if it means we will have to create some new jutsu for you to be able to do this. Does that sound acceptable Naruto-kun?" Shizune asked with a kind smile.

Naruto reluctantly nodded. "Will there be written tests? I do terrible on written tests." Naruto complained.

"No there will be oral tests to prove you have learned the lessons. And as Shizune pointed out, Naruto you are not in any condition to do any jutsu right now. We will work on the book work first and the chakra control will come as you finish healing. Now as you eat breakfast I want you to read chapter one in the book." Tsunade ordered as she smiled and began to eat. "We will be headed to the Northeast towards an area you might be familiar with Naruto. I believe you know the way to the Wave country don't you?" Naruto nodded as he was eating his breakfast. "Good then you will know some people there that might help us out while we are there."

The group of four finished breakfast just as an ANBU agent landed next to Tsunade and whispered something into her ear. Her eyes shot wide. "Alright, everyone get into the woods now. Shizune seal up the tent now and follow them." Tsunade ordered as three more ANBU jumped down and took places around the fire. Shizune sealed the tent quickly and dashed into the woods.

Tsunade whispered orders and ran into the woods to conceal herself next to an uneasy Naruto and a smirking Hinata next to him. "Okay we have a couple people heading this way keep still and they should go away." Tsunade quietly ordered as the group nodded acknowledgement.

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A/N:I know cliffhanger... The next chapter is in the process of writing and I am not sure if I will get it done by November but hey I might put some time into it during that month but please do not hold your breath. Sorry it took so long to get the chapter up but was going over my Beta's work and had to do the edits. I hope you enjoyed this installment of the missing Hokage.

A special note. Naruto used more of the Kyuubi's energy fighting Sasuke this time as opposed to cannon thus he is not able to heal as fast as his body is almost dealing with Yokai poisoning. Thus his healing is slowed down to about twice a normal person's and but he does regenerate his organs like his lung, it just takes longer.

Next chapter Kiba, Hana and Tsume are pissed but not for the reason you think.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See chapter 1, and if you actually forgot '_**I DON'T OWN NARUTO!!**_'

I hope you enjoy this chapter, sorry for it taking so long but I have been quite busy.

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Chapter 3 – Complications and leaning…

Kakashi, Pakun, and an injured Akamaru and Kiba landed in the camp.

"What can we do for you Kakashi-san, and Inuzuka-san?" The wolf masked ANBU asked.

"We are looking for both Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga. The council would like to speak to them and they are not where they are supposed to be." Kakashi droned out.

"Sorry, can't help you Kakashi-san. We are on a mission from the Hokage herself." Wolf replied.

Pakun walked over to the bush that Tsunade was hiding behind and turned to Kakashi. "I have to relieve myself Kakashi so I will be right back." Pakun said as Kakashi just waved to him and continued his banter with the ANBU agents asking for breakfast from them, much to their and Kiba's annoyance.

Pakun put his face right up to Tsunade and whispered. "Tsunade-sama Kakashi was ordered by the council to bring Naruto to them so they could give him a trial for hurting Sasuke. I would also like to report that Kakashi nearly didn't bring back Naruto from the Valley of the End. I had to force his hand by threatening to drag Sasuke back myself so that he could carry back Naruto, who was more grievously wounded. Also I have this for you." Pakun stated as scroll appeared next to him.

"What is this?" Tsunade questioned.

"It is the general locations of missing summoning scrolls as far as my clan can tell. We have followed rumors as best we could to find them. You should ask your summons if they will allow other summons for you. They may or they may not, depending on the summons, as some summons are more arrogant than others. You must get permission from your main summons first as they will dictate what summons you will be allowed to have." Pakun told Tsunade who just nodded and took the scroll stuffing it in between her massive breasts. "Good luck we are rooting for Naruto and if you can get Kakashi to get off his lazy butt it would be much appreciated. Poor Kiba has had to do a lot and his sister and the doctors told Kakashi that he shouldn't be going out of his room for at least a week or more."

"Kakashi-sensei…. I don't feel so good…. I know Hinata-chan and Naruto were here… but I think I need to go back to the hospital…" Kiba stammered out just before he collapsed in the arms of an ANBU with a sparrow mask.

"What are you doing having an injured genin coming with you searching for your own student Kakashi?" Wolf asked Kakashi who just shrugged. "You realize Tsume will skin you alive and feed you to her dogs for this, don't you?"

"The council told me to take him and we are getting A-rank pay for this little search and retrieval. I would also like to tell my student a few things. First, like how he abandoning his comrades and how his teammate Sakura feels right now and how Sasuke is going to make a full recovery." Kakashi yelled to no one in particular.

"So the traitor will be well for his trial? That is good news. As for Uzumaki-san… I think Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama had him set to do light training and rest." Wolf commented.

"Well the council is looking for him and wants to talk to him about what happened at the 'Valley of the end'." Kakashi responded.

"I thought everyone filed a report about it." Wolf retorted.

"Well the council thinks Naruto is lying." Kakashi bluntly stated. Naruto nearly rose up only Hinata's hand squeezing his stopped him from doing anything. She shook her head as she saw his anger rise.

"I am sure Kurenai-san will not be happy with you taking her student and injuring him more. Take him back to the village and you can restart your search when you get back." Wolf nearly ordered. "I am sure Kurenai-san might even go as far as to either castrate you or burn your book collection if you don't get Kiba-san some medical help." Wolf pointed out as Kakashi's face lost all color.

Kakashi grabbed Kiba and Akamaru and turned back towards Konoha. "Pakun come on we need to get these two back to the village. This isn't as far as they could have gone in a single day." Kakashi yelled as he jumped up into the trees and headed back towards Konoha.

"See what I have to deal with?" Pakun grumbled quietly as Shizune and Tsunade both giggled at Pakun's predicament. "I'm coming oh great copy ninja!" Pakun yelled sarcastically as he also went back towards Konoha.

Five minutes after Kakashi left the ANBU searched the immediate area and found no one. "All clear Hokage-sama. Kakashi has headed back towards Konoha. Do you wish us to escort you for another day? We would be honored as Naruto-sama is still injured we can help you in transporting him closer to your final destination." Wolf stated as he bowed.

Naruto looked at Tsunade quizzically. "What did he mean by calling me Naruto-'sama'? No one has ever called me that before."

Tsunade smiled. "You were in my office the other night weren't you Wolf?" Tsunade asked with a raised eyebrow. "What all do you know?"

Wolf stood but remained in a bow. "Group spread and maintain a safety perimeter." Wolf ordered as the others spread left the clearing after putting out the fire. He waited until the others were out of hearing range and then Tsunade allowed him to speak. "Tsunade-sama wrote up the clan adoption papers for Naruto-sama to become part of the Senju clan." Wolf stated as Hinata gasped at this revelation. "Tsunade-sama also set forth several edicts I will not mention them as they have to do with items that Shizune-chan has in her possession and other matters military. I watched you until you left at four this morning to get a couple hours of sleep. I also got a couple hours of sleep and having set my squad and I as your escort for the day. We are loyal to you and will do anything you ask Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade smiled then laughed at her carelessness. "Well, Wolf it looks like you are going to escort us to the northwest as we are headed towards the Wave Country and might need some guards for part of the trip. Naruto can you create some clones and have them transform into each of us? I want you to send them in some other direction?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto nodded and crossed his fingers created twelve clones. "You have your orders, Hinata-chan you can look at them and see what I do for the Henge jutsu." Naruto said as Hinata activated her Byakugan. Three of them changed into Tsunade, another three of them changed into Shizune and another three of them changed into Hinata.

"You okay boss? You don't look so good." One of the Naruto clones asked Naruto as he staggered into Hinata's waiting arms.

"Just go now and lay down a trail anyone could follow, even teme." Naruto teased as the clones took off, each in groups of four, heading north, east, south-east and south-west towards Suna.

Wolf stood. "We will cover your tracks Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade helped Naruto up unto her back. "Happy birthday Naruto-kun, you are now my cousin by edict of the Hokage. Now you can say you have family, me." Tsunade stated happily.

"Thanks baa-chan… wait now what do I call you now that you are my cousin and not just some old hag?" Naruto asked as he laid his head on Tsunade's back.

Tsunade smiled. "You can call me obasan or refer to me as your aunt. Does that sound okay with you?"

"Yah, sure…" Naruto slurred out as he fell asleep on her back.

"That was very kind Tsunade-sama, letting Naruto-kun into your clan." Hinata stated proudly.

"Not really, he needed a nice birthday gift. He can even keep his name if he likes. And you can refer to me as shishou, or master. As you both are now my new apprentices. When he wakes up we will need to find a place to let him rest so that he will be guarded and not have too many interruptions. The ANBU will hide our trail effective enough but if Kakashi comes it might be harder to hide our trail. Poor Kiba, I am sure I distinctly ordered that he was not to leave the hospital before the end of the week."

The group of four left the area towards Wave Country as the ANBU group followed and covered their trail. They made it about three-quarters the way to Wave before deciding to find a place to rest. Off the trail about a mile they found a concrete bunker-like building. The ANBU entered the structure, returned about twenty minutes later, and asked the Hokage to come to the side for a discussion.

"Hokage-sama, the building is safe enough for habitation on the short term. But we found that this place was one of Orochimaru's labs, and there are still has some experiments that are still going. You might want to take a look." Wolf explained.

Tsunade and Wolf walked into the building. "Shizune and the rest of you stay out here for a little bit." Tsunade ordered as she laid Naruto on a soft mat of moss near the entrance.

Tsunade entered the building and was at once in awe and revolted by what she saw. Long-dead experiments were held in large glass tubes the size that would hold a human or at least what was left of one. Several held the remains of humans in them, looking like grotesque animals in containers ready for dissection. As they explored the complex they found the mess hall, the infirmary and the sleeping quarters were all close together but away from the experiment containers. There was an operation hall, also. If it weren't for Orochimaru's hands on this complex it would be a great base of operations with lots of things that would help the group be able to start off in becoming the independent shinobi she wanted.

As she nearly finished her check of the facility she noticed a few tanks that still had power going to them and what appeared to be alive, if not having stasis subjects in them. She looked at the tanks and realized that there were actual subjects in the tanks and they were alive. She and Wolf pulled the subjects out of their tanks and surveyed them. There were three in total all of them female. They varied in age from about seventeen to about ten years old. One was covered in fine scales but also was the youngest. The second appeared to be about thirteen and appeared to have had experiments run on her. The last and oldest appeared to be a malnourished seventeen year old girl with dark hair and dark eyes. They were all put in rooms in the infirmary. Hinata chose to sleep in the same infirmary bed as Naruto when they were at last brought into the facility.

Tsunade spent the early part of the night up going over all the documents they had found in the facility. It apparently was both a breeding factory and a gene splicing operations center. It was abandoned because Orochimaru did not have the recourses to keep the facility going outside of the Land of Rice. Shizune kept an eye on the new patients as they recovered from their long slumber. The ANBU kept guard outside the facility for the night.

"Let's see… blood line theft and breeding. What were you up to, Orochimaru?" Tsunade spoke as she continued to read the research notes. "This facility was abandoned almost six months ago and the research was just left here. There were five subjects when they left two males and three females." Tsunade pondered as she continued to think out loud. "The oldest female is an Uchiha who was the basis for proving that Uchiha would be more viable candidates for the curse seal. She was not marked but left for breeding purposes if he decided to come back."

"Sounds like the teme. Not really worried if he comes back for an experiment." Naruto stated as he startled Tsunade out of her thoughts. Naruto was breathing hard and leaning against the door.

"What are you doing out of bed young man?" Tsunade inquired with a soft almost loving tone.

"Well obasan… the nurses here didn't seem to answer at the nurse's station. Sort of reminds me of home." Naruto joked as Tsunade chucked at his comment. "Actually Hinata-chan was too cute to wake and I was hungry so I thought I would get some food. Low and behold I find I am in a bunker in the infirmary. So how do I find the mess hall to get something to eat?"

Tsunade chuckled as she got up, grabbed Naruto and helped him onto a couch in the office. Both turned as they heard running down the hall. "Tsunade-shishou! Tsunade-shishou! Naruto-kun is missing! Please tell me you know where he is!" Hinata pleaded, almost in tears, as she ran in the doorway.

"Easy Hinata, he is right here. He did not want to wake you as he thought you were too cute to wake." Tsunade teased as Hinata went from angry to blushing in a heartbeat. "Why don't you keep him company and do some reading while I get you both a snack. I'll make it a meal in his case." Tsunade snidely chided at Naruto's appetite.

"Hey, that wasn't nice obaachan." Naruto poked fun back at Tsunade.

"Grandma is it? I am your physician and your sensei! Now read the book while I get you some food." Tsunade ordered sternly as both Naruto and Hinata nodded in agreement. Tsunade left with a smile on her lips as she headed to the mess hall.

Hinata continued to read until she had finished the chapter and then looked at Naruto who was still only a few pages into the chapter she had just read. She watched his eyes keep on running over the same text over and over again. She also noticed his aggravation increasing with each pass. "Na… Naruto-kun… is everything okay?" Hinata whispered to Naruto. Naruto looked almost lost when he turned to look in Hinata's eyes. "What is it Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked almost in tears, as his eyes showed fear and worry. "I don't get it…" Naruto whispered under his breath.

Hinata put her hand on his back gently rubbing it, trying to take the fear away. "What don't you get Naruto-kun? Tell me and I might be able to help you." Hinata said with all the conviction she could muster.

"I can't get this paragraph. I can read most of the words but not all and even when I can read them. I can't… I can't understand them." Naruto blurted out, he then dropped the book and brought his hands up to his face. "I really am an idiot!" Naruto shouted to no one in particular as he wept into his hands.

Hinata pulled Naruto gently into her shoulder so that he could cry and be comforted. "It is okay Naruto-kun… it isn't your fault." Hinata continued to gently rub his back.

"But… but…" Naruto tried to counter her argument.

"Shh… Naruto-kun. It's okay! I'm here for you." Hinata continued, trying to comfort him.

"Did the academy let you use a dictionary Naruto? Did they actually teach you anything?" Tsunade asked with a tray full of food in her hands as she walked into the room.

Naruto shook his head while it was still in the crook of Hinata's neck. "Poor Naruto-kun…" Hinata exclaimed.

"Yes, 'poor Naruto-kun'. Those temes! They sabotaged his learning! I know he can write at least at the most basic levels. This means more work for us to do to get him where he should be. Naruto you can skip the reading for tonight. Eat something and go back to bed and rest. After I get some rest myself, Shizune and I will come down to your room and work with both of you, especially you Naruto but that will be tomorrow. We appear to have a lot of ground to cover that they did not in the academy. If we get back there and you make Hokage you can fire all the ones who did not help your learning. If not we can just tell Jiraiya and he can have Ibiki deal with them." Tsunade said as her ire rose. "Naruto, Hinata I want you guys to eat and then go back to bed. I have some paperwork to go over before we all go to bed."

Naruto lifted his head off Hinata's shoulder and smiled at her. "Thanks, Hinata-chan."

"Naruto?" Tsunade questioned as Naruto looked at her, acknowledging her call to him. "I would like to test you for Kekkei Genkai if you will let me. I have an idea and would like to test on you and then if I am correct I am going to ask you a special question." Tsunade smiled warmly, this sent a shiver down his spine as he just nodded.

"Hey obasan?" Naruto called as he cleared his mouth of food.

"Yes Naruto-kun, what do you need?" Tsunade asked as she continued to read the reports on the desk.

"You mentioned breeding purposes and Uchiha in the same sentence. What were you talking about?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade sighed. "Well I was talking about the three patients that Orochimaru abandoned here. One of them is an Uchiha, she is seventeen. Orochimaru planned to use her to make baby Uchiha. I have not figured out why he left her here as all three nearly died from neglect."

"That's terrible Tsunade-shishou. That is what Cloud might have planned for me if their attempt to abduct me had succeeded." Hinata stated as she continued to eat her snack.

Naruto paled. "Why would you use women to just make babies?"

Hinata giggled as Naruto statement and Tsunade burst out laughing.

"What?" Naruto asked innocently.

"Did you miss out on the sex education course?" Tsunade asked Naruto.

"Well I was able to sneak in after the course and look at the books, but I was caught after I was able to learn about the female organ placement in and on the female body. There was a lot I didn't understand. Also the teacher told me 'don't worry, demon you will never need what was in this course anyway'." Tsunade and Hinata were appalled at the brazen approach the teachers had towards Naruto's education.

Tsunade opened a book and flipped through some pages pointed to a picture. "What is that?"

Naruto looked at the picture and saw where she was pointing. "That is the Uterus." Tsunade moved her finger. "The vagina." Again Tsunade moved her finger. "That would be the right ovary."

"Well you have a handle on at least some of the plumbing. What are the purposes of each of the organs I pointed too?" Tsunade asked as Hinata turned as red as a tomato.

Naruto shook his head. "I don't have a clue."

Tsunade slapped her head and then shook it. "I might just put out a call to Anko to teach you. If Hinata doesn't mind."

"What?" Naruto screamed and then coughed. "Why would you want that crazy lady to teach me anything? Especially anything doing with female internal organs." Naruto asked with fear etched in his face.

Tsunade laughed. "Naruto, do you know where babies come from?"

"Yeah the hospital!" Naruto replied confidently as Hinata giggled yet again. "What? Well they do."

"Yes silly but she was not asking where they are born. She is… asking if you know how they are made." Hinata said as her blush deepened.

"Nope, not a clue." Naruto replied with a huge grin.

Tsunade slumped down in her chair and shook her head. "The lengths they went too to alienate you. I swear if we return I am going to kill some of them." Thus began Naruto's introduction to sex education. Afterwards Naruto had a redder face than Hinata. When Hinata walked Naruto back to his bed and he was somewhat fearful of the Kunoichi.

"Y… you don't plan on doing that to me right now do you Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked with fear in his eyes.

Hinata placed her hand upon her mouth and shook her head. "N… no Naruto-kun." Hinata blushed as she thought about it. "But, someday, Naruto-kun, I would like to when we are older and possibly married."

Naruto sighed in relief. "I guess that would work. I am not ready to have kids. Also it sounds painful to be a girl."

"From what I hear it only hurts the first time, but I would still prefer to wait. I love you and will wait for when you are ready, Naruto-kun." Hinata reassured Naruto as she set him on the bed. "Just because I sleep with you does not mean I am going to have sex with you, at least not yet. I like sleeping next to you because I love you and because you need the companionship. If we decide later to progress our relationship to that level then it will happen." Hinata explained to Naruto as she took off her shirt and put on a night gown.

"Hinata you if you don't mind me saying this, you are nearly as large at my sexy jutsu." Naruto stated with a smile, only afterwards did he realize what he had said and covered his head. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan."

Hinata blushed then sighed. "Naruto-kun, do you like them bigger?"

Naruto eased out of his defensive posture. "You mean you are not going to hit me for what I said?"

Hinata shook her head. "No Naruto-kun, I was just asking if you had a preference for breast sizes. I have always felt self-conscious about my appearance and my large size for my age. Most Hyuga women were smaller than I am when they were my age. So I don't feel like I am pretty according to clan traditions." Hinata said as she lowered her head.

Naruto lifted her face by her chin, and smiled. "The size does not matter to me. I will explain what initially attracted me to Sakura and how my feelings for you have been changing over time." Naruto offered as Hinata sat down beside him on the bed. "Well as you know Sakura has a flat chest so that is not a deciding factor for me. I saw her when I was younger and she was nice to me… at least at first. She played with me while others did not. When I heard that boys were supposed to like girls I decided I liked Sakura because she had been nice to me. This carried over through the years but she was all I knew. So I began to think I loved her because I hoped she would be nice to me again. Things went south when she became fixated on another guy, Sasuke, but I didn't know it at the time."

Naruto sighed and continued. "Sakura soon after that became increasingly mean to me but I thought it was something I had done so I tried my best to do whatever she wanted. You could say that I got used to the hitting and insults. Part of me wanted her to be nice to me again, I longed for it so badly that I didn't care what it took to get her to like me again I would do it. You could say I had tunnel vision when it came to Sakura." Naruto sighed again as Hinata rubbed his back. "You know she agreed to a date with me the night teme ran away. She was totally out of it, but it made me so happy that she was giving me attention again that I didn't care." Naruto sighed yet again. "I sort of figured I didn't have any chance with her when she came crying to the gates when we left to go get teme. She begged me to bring him back. It was then that I understood that she loved him and not me, I had little to no chance to have her as a girlfriend and only slight chance to have her as a good friend." Hinata looked into Naruto's eyes, which held such sadness, loneliness and a slight edge of bitterness. "I can tell you that I have absolutely no clue what love is. I never knew what it was like to have a mother or a father. The villagers would either insult me or just turn their backs on me."

Hinata embraced Naruto in a gentle hug. "Oh, Naruto-kun, it is okay. I am here for you."

Naruto sniffled and chuckled slightly. "That brings me to you, the one I overlooked. I am truly sorry that I didn't see you sooner. I sort of get hardheaded when I want something and ignore anything else till I get what I am after. In this case we might have gotten what we were after sooner rather than later. I am sorry that I hurt you by not acknowledging your affection for me." Naruto tightened his embrace. "I am so, so sorry."

Hinata shook her head into Naruto's shoulder. "It is okay Naruto-kun, I was not brave enough to talk to you and you were blinded by your need to be seen. It was my fault by not being strong enough to come forward and speak to you."

(Citrus Warning)

Suddenly, Naruto got a look of confusion and curiosity on his face, while his blush deepened. "Hinata-chan? Obasan told us about the reproductive system, but she never mentioned why a girl's breasts are considered a part of it. Can _you_ tell me why they are a part of it?" he asked.

Hinata blushed furiously, but smiled at him. "You know that babies are born without teeth, right?" she asked, then continued, "A woman who has just had a baby, or who is into the later stages of her pregnancy can produce what's called 'mother's milk' from their breasts, which… comes out of her nipples. Babies feed off of this milk for the first few months of their lives, and the time in which a mother feeds her baby this way is a part of the process called 'bonding'."

Naruto's face changed into one of sadness. "I'm guessing I never got the chance to do the whole 'bonding' thing with my mother…" he said glumly.

Hinata frowned. "No, I guess not…" she said, then added, "That might be why you were one of the shortest people in our class. Bonding and being fed properly by one's mother is essential to growing up properly."

Naruto looked to Hinata. "Hinata-chan? Is it only possible for a person to bond with their mother?" he asked, then said, "I don't mean to be perverted, but… I kind of want to bond with somebody, and…, well… could the two of us… bond?"

Hinata smiled warmly at him. "There are many forms of bonding, Naruto-kun. Not all of them are the bonding between a mother and her baby." She explained, then continued, "However, I would feel very… privileged to give you your first meal of mother's milk…"

Naruto gave Hinata a confused look. "I thought you said a woman can only make this milk when they have a baby. So how are you…?" he trailed off as Hinata pulled off her nightgown and bra, made a few hand-seals, and said, "This technique comes in handy when babysitting a newborn, Naruto-kun… I know you've never felt the love of a mother, but… I can at least try and give you an example of what it feels like…"

Naruto blushed as Hinata sat down on the bed next to him and pulled him close. "Just suck on one of my nipples, or we can just cuddle if you want." Hinata said.

Naruto hesitantly put his mouth over one of her nipples, and began sucking. Hinata hummed softly as she rubbed his back, and pulled him into her lap. 'Normally I should be the one in his lap, but it would be too difficult to do this if that were how we were positioned.' She thought to herself, then blushed and asked, "Does it taste all right?"

Naruto, without pulling away, nodded slightly. To Hinata's surprise, he was crying if only a little bit. "What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" she asked, worried.

Naruto frowned. "I just… I've always dreamt of being held by a woman who could have been my mother… but whenever I wake up from that dream… I feel so empty…" he said, then held her and continued, "I know you can't be a mother figure to me, but… thank you so much for helping me realize what such a thing feels like for real…"

Hinata smiled. "I'm happy too, Naruto-kun… I'm happy to have been able to help you in any way I can…" she said, pulling him close and adding, "If you ever need something like this again, feel free to ask me."

(End Citrus)…

"That is so sweet." Tsunade's hushed voice carried over to the two young shinobi. They both froze in each other's arms not sure what to do. "Now either you two strip the rest of the way and do the deed or go to sleep. I have things to discuss with both of you tomorrow morning. Your little reeducation class on sex and human reproduction put us behind schedule and I need some sleep. So good night… and Naruto, for what it is worth I am sorry things were so bad. If I had known I would have done something sooner." Tsunade voice trailed off.

Naruto put on a huge foxy grin. "That is okay obasan. That was the past and there is nothing I can do about it. On a brighter note, Hinata-chan here says she loves me. When I figure out what that really means I am going to try to return it to her." Naruto replied as he hugged Hinata and then wiped away the tears from her face he didn't notice she had before.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata replied as she returned the hug.

Tsunade smiled fondly. "Looks to me like you are already on your way to figuring it out, Naruto. Good night." Tsunade said with a wave of her hand. "Shizune, we need to talk for a minute than we can go to bed also." Tsunade whispered to Shizune as they left the room Naruto and Hinata were in.

Naruto changed into pajamas with frogs on them and his otter-with-buck-teeth night cap. Naruto curled up behind Hinata as they fell quickly asleep.

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Several miles away two teenage girls in kimonos we lying in a single sleeping bag near a fire. One was blond and the other had long brown hair. "I can tell he's close. We should be able to find him sometime tomorrow. I also know he is with Tsunade and she should be able to help heal you." The blond exclaimed happily as she snuggled up in front of the brown haired girl.

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A/N: I will not tell you until next chapter who the two at the end of the chapter are.

I would also like put out a special thanks to Chewie Cookies for both being beta and for the fun Citrus scene. And no flames to Chewie for it, if you want to berate anyone for it send me a PM and we can discuss it. Great work with the beta editing Chewie.

Ryan L. Spalding – No cesarean sections here… but pregnancies are a ways off. And first will be Shizune.

Wandering Soul - I know my first chapter had some problems but wanted to get it out quickly. As you can see I have a beta and we are working of further chapters, hope you like them.

Three_tailed_Fox – Yes the horrible and demonic 'cliffhanger'. Yes I left one at the end of this chapter too but not a bad one. This one was to introduce new characters and show a glimpse of things in the next chapter.

Diff-r-ent-1 – Thanks for the quick catch. I was able to fix it right after you sent your message.

Again all I will not give dates for release of chapters as I have other projects to work on too. A whole group of stories to update and a few chapters to go over after my betas have sent them back to me. More chapters are on the way. For this and my other stories.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto so hahahaha…

I am sad to report I have lost my first reader, because I moved the relationship between Naruto and Hinata too fast for a reader, with a little help from my beta, good going Chewie. You will be missed. Sorry to say that he/she also said that the characters were ooc (out of character), hm… Let's see out of character for a fan fiction…. Go figure… If they were in character Naruto would have been brought back to the village to suffer indignations for a few more months deal with a violent teammate, who would be classified as a psychopath with a man beater complex. They head off for two and half years with a lecherous old man who should have taken care of his 'God son' way before he actually did. Naruto would have been more, well adjusted and Jiraiya would be better man for it. But hey I am just an author who has a chance to rant before he gets to his story. Thanks for putting up with my rant… here is my story.

Chapter 4 – Re-meeting and the council's intentions….

Tsunade woke up in a good mood her discussion with Shizune went well and the patients would be waking in a day or two. Shizune had found the medical supplies for working on patients and they had hooked up the girls with both nutrients and fluids. The hard part would be in getting them back on their feet. She showered and got dressed, today would be a really interesting day. She then walked into the lab and found the results from the tests she had run last night on Naruto's blood. Tsunade's grin broadened.

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Hinata thought she was in a dream as she woke. She smelled Naruto so close she could touch him. She then felt a hand move across her stomach, as it both tickled and startled her. She opened her eyes fear radiating from them as she turned her head and looked at what was in the bed with her. She then saw a mess of spiky blond hair and sighed heavily as she remembered going to bed with Naruto last night.

Naruto slowly opened his beautiful, at least in Hinata's opinion, cerulean eyes and smiled warmly. "Morning Hinata-chan." Naruto said in a gentle voice.

This surprised her as she thought he would shout when he saw her, but he did not, as his greeting was filled with warmth and caring. "Morning Naruto-kun." Hinata replied and on a whim she kissed him on directly on the lips. It was a little peck but his eyes went wide in surprise.

"Wow that was unexpected!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise.

Hinata looked almost hurt. "Why? I told you I love you. Why would it surprise you that I would want to give you a wake up kiss?"

"Sorry Hinata-chan, I am just not used to waking up to a beautiful girl in my bed and her kissing me as soon as I wake up." Naruto apologized and hung his head in shame.

Hinata smiled warmly and used her index finger to lift his chin. "Naruto-kun, I meant what I said and said what I meant. I, love, you... I will keep saying it until you either believe me or you understand." Hinata gently scolded him and then kissed him deeply. His eyes went wide then closed like hers did.

"Okay! Make-out session's over. I have to ask Hinata a question and then ask you a question so get showered and dressed. And please not at the same time unless you use different bathrooms. I don't need to wake you both up from blood loss." Tsunade said as she turned and left the room. "Meet me in the mess hall, I have your results Naruto-kun." She called back from down the hallway.

"Naruto-kun you can use this bathroom I will use the one in the room across the hall." Hinata said as she grabbed some clothes.

Naruto's mouth hung open as he got a glimpse of Hinata's clothes, specifically her undergarments, white lace panties. "Sorry I didn't mean to look." Naruto apologized as his face turned bright red.

"If you are to be my boyfriend and eventually my husband you will eventually see my underwear." Hinata said while she smiled and blushed. She then twirled her panties on her index finger as she left the room, while she swung her hips from side to side.

Naruto was completely confused his jaw was left on the floor. He was not sure how to react. He got the distinct impression that Hinata was trying to make up for lost time and seduce him as quickly as possible. This excited and frightened him. How did he miss this girl? Both beautiful, inside and out, and she really did want a relationship with him. He continued to think hard on what he had seen and tried hard to figure it out. Unknown to him time had passed without him realizing it. Hinata entered the room her hair lightly wet, wearing only black pants and a white lace bra. 'Wait a minute! Why doesn't she have a shirt on?' Naruto thought as Hinata passed him giving him a full view of her chest for a second time, except this time with only a lace bra as protection. Naruto's jaw again dropped.

"Sorry Naruto-kun… I felt like show you again. Do you like what you see?" Hinata asked with a devious grin on her face and a blush on her face. Naruto nodded dumbly as Shizune giggled in the doorway.

"Naruto-kun you need to hurry up and get ready for breakfast." Shizune warned.

Naruto entered the bathroom and closed the door. Hinata quietly activated her Byakugan and sighed as she watched Naruto shower. "Hinata-chan? Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Shizune inquired as Hinata just nodded, smiled, and sighed contently. "Hinata-chan, you need to talk to Tsunade-shishou. Now!" Shizune had startled Hinata out of her peeping on Naruto as she shook her head at the young girl and then Hinata finally headed to the mess hall.

For some reason Naruto could not get the sight of Hinata in her bra out or twirling her panties of his mind, as well as the events of last night and he had been so distracted that he had forgotten to get a towel. He also had a problem, on that he was excited by the thought of Hinata in a bra, or possibly in nothing at all. 'Wait… bad Naruto… I am not ero-sennin.' Realizing he didn't have a towel he called out to Hinata for help. "Hinata-chan I need a towel could you get me one!"

Shizune chuckled at Naruto having forgotten a towel. She brought one into the bathroom. "Here you go Naruto-kun."

"Shizune? Is that you?" Naruto asked.

"Yes it is Naruto-kun. Is there anything wrong?" Shizune inquired in a worried voice.

"Well sort of…" Naruto almost sounded embarrassed.

"What is it Naruto-kun? I am a trained medic and should be able to help." Shizune called into the shower.

"It won't go down…" Naruto blurted out.

"What won't go down? The water?" Shizune asked more worried.

"No… that isn't it? What was the word? Tsunade covered it last night, dang it! I can't remember." Naruto replied as his voice almost became frantic.

"What did you talk about last night, Naruto-kun?" Shizune asked as she reached for the curtain and was ready to open it to help Naruto.

"We covered sex education last night. It won't go down." Naruto the panic was clear in his voice.

Shizune lowered her head and sighed, she believed she knew what was going on. "Is this about seeing Hinata-chan scantily clad, Naruto-kun?" Shizune inquired.

"I think so… I am not sure. I can't get her out of my mind." Naruto was panicked and pulled the curtain open. "See it won't go down!"

Shizune smiled as she looked at his lower reaches. "Well Naruto-kun there are a few ways to get it to go down again." Shizune let her mind slip. 'Impressive for a thirteen year old.'

"What do I do? I can't go on like this." Naruto holding a towel in his right hand and also pointing to his excited crotch.

Shizune blushed. "The first thing you need to do is cover up." Naruto blushed and quickly put the towel around his waist. "Next there are few way to deal with your 'problem'. You can have sex now, I wouldn't advise that as you are not ready for the implications of that just yet. You could have someone 'relieve' you or you could do it yourself." Naruto looked her with a confused look on his face. "We will talk to Hinata-chan and Tsunade-shishou about that one later. Lastly you can relax, stop thinking about naked girls and put your mind at ease. Thinking of something like Orochimaru, Jiraiya-sama, or something that you find unattractive. That should help with your 'problem'. The last one will fix your problem for now but it may take some time. I advise you to worry more about the question that Tsunade-shishou has for you and not about making babies with Hinata-chan."

Naruto sighed at being told he was okay. "Thanks Shizune-chan. Sorry about being nude in front of you."

Shizune chuckled. "You are fine Naruto-kun. I was just surprised that was your 'problem' would be so easy to diagnose and solve. But we will still have to talk about this as you will need to learn a way for it not to be a distraction for you."

Naruto stepped out with a bulge in his towel and hugged Shizune. "Thanks Shizune-chan."

Shizune followed Naruto into the room where she had to catch herself ogling a near-child. She needed a boyfriend and soon. As Naruto got dressed Shizune blushed slightly. Naruto noticed but did not want to bring this up as he was already embarrassed enough showing off his 'problem' to Shizune. Naruto finished getting dress and left with Shizune to go to the mess hall.

They entered to only to see Hinata as she glowed bright red and nodded to Tsunade. Tsunade had a bowl of food ready next to Hinata and pointed to it. "Have a seat Naruto-oi. I have a difficult question for you and hope you will think about it and not make a snap decision. Also take the question seriously, please." Tsunade stated but a nervous look was in her eyes. Naruto noticed as fear of rejection, he was confused as to why she would have that.

"Okay Obasan out with it. What is or are your questions?" Naruto asked between bites of his breakfast his eyes darted between Hinata, Shizune and Tsunade.

Tsunade took a deep breath and sighed. "Well Naruto I know you like Hinata-chan here." Tsunade pointed out as Naruto nodded and continued to eat. Tsunade didn't notice as she began to ask her question but Naruto had begun to take a drink. "Naruto, I want you to be the father of my child." Naruto sprayed his drink at the question. He then looked at her like she was completely crazy.

Naruto gulped loudly. "Right now? What about what Shizune said about not having sex right now, as it wouldn't be good for me? And what about last night discussion's? And what will Hinata-chan think of me as her not being the only girl for me?" Naruto slammed his head down on the table, hard.

"Naruto-kun… are you okay?" Hinata asked as she rubbed his back. "There is more to the question than you having sex. You need to hear her out, Naruto-kun."

Naruto banged his head against the table a dozen more times before he looked up at Hinata with a quizzical look on his face. Hinata looked at his forehead as the bruise that was there had already begun to fade. "Better Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked gently as her hand intertwined with his. He nodded sighed and then looked at Tsunade.

"Naruto I am not asking for you to have sex with me. I am reserving that for Hinata, here." Tsunade stated as she pointed at Hinata. "I am asking for you donate the components for a baby, Shizune has volunteered to carry the baby." Tsunade saw Naruto begin to ask a question but raised her hand to forestall his possible question. "Naruto I am asking you as there is no one I would rather have raise a child than you. I want to pass on the Mokuton gene. Last night I found out that I did indeed have the gene that my grandfather had. I am asking another member of my clan to help me in producing a child with the gene. Shizune and I believe that it is only active in the males of my family. So I am asking you to help me produce a son or two. There was a reason I made you a cousin instead of my son. For legal reasons you and I producing a child would be illegal even though we are not related." Tsunade explained until Naruto spoke up with a good question.

"How do you know we are not related? I know there are a limited number of people in the village who are or were blondes. You being one of them, not to be insulting but you are old enough to be my grandmother, you know?" Naruto stated with a look on his face as if he was trying to be serious also in an attempt to make sure that Tsunade was not angered.

Tsunade smiled and chuckled. "You are right I am old enough to be your grandmother, but I am not. I do know your lineage but cannot tell you just yet." Tsunade again put her hand up. "Yes I know you want to know so that you feel like you were not just abandoned. Just know this, your family loved you, and your pervert godfather still hasn't done enough for you." Tsunade sighed. "That said, I want to talk to you about being the father of my child or children. I am not asking for you to do this yet. We want you to grow a few years older first, then you will be ready to both produce a strong child and better able to be a suitable father. You are young and I know this is a lot to ask of you but if you do this the Senju clan can live again and you will have the status and ranking if return to Konoha to be able to better deal with the council."

"So aren't you nearly at an age where you will not be able to produce… um… what are those again? Eggs, yeah, eggs. Aren't you at the age where you are not able to produce eggs anymore?" Naruto asked with a curious look on his face.

"Very good Naruto-kun, I am impressed that you did listen to your lessons last night. To answer your question, yes I am nearly at a stage in life where I can no longer produce eggs for having children. Also, though I will deny it if you tell anyone, I should not carry a child as it would be hard on both the baby and myself. That is why Shizune here has agreed to carry a couple of fertilized eggs to term for us, that is if you agree." Tsunade stated but looked as if she was pleading for Naruto to say yes.

"Okay obasan, I agree but as long as Hinata-chan agrees to it." Naruto bluntly replied.

"Oh she likes the idea. She also has offered to help with sperm collection." Tsunade replied teasingly with a devious grin.

"On that subject, Hinata-chan was spying on our Naruto-kun in the shower." Shizune pointed out as Hinata blushed up a storm, Hinata turned to Naruto and he noticed a smile and a drop of blood at the edge of her nose. "It also seems that Naruto is thinking about Hinata-chan. He seemed to have a 'problem' with his thoughts about Hinata-chan. His body was reacting to Hinata-chan's playful attitude. First the twirling her panties and then entering the room topless with nothing other than a bra. Both caused Naruto to have a 'rising' problem that he was not sure how to deal with. I informed him of the various ways to deal with it but if Hinata-chan continues to tease him I am not sure he will be able to control himself in her presence. He might either pass out or become too distracted by his thoughts of her that he will not be able to think straight." Shizune reported as both Naruto and Hinata blushed so red that they would have made tomatoes look pale.

"I see." Tsunade stated as she smiled and folded her hands in front of her. "So Naruto, what are your intentions for Hinata-chan here?"

"I know I like her a lot. I just don't know how I should deal with her. I have had little to interaction on how relationships work. I am afraid I might do or say something that would cause her to be mad at me or want to leave me." Naruto shyly admitted.

Hinata gently pulled Naruto into a hug. "Naruto-kun… I love you for who you are, you are ignorant at times but that is one of your endearing qualities. We will of course help you in learning whatever you need to know as for saying something that will chase me away, I am not sure you could be that cruel, ever. What you have said and how you have said it shows me that you care for me and you may even be on the track to learning to love me." Hinata placed her finger on his lips to stop him from saying anything. "You have been neglected and spurned by so many, you were never given examples of what to do in certain situations. We will work on that. Know this Naruto-kun, even if you do not eventually love me and possibly fall for another woman I will continue to love you." Hinata reassured Naruto.

"Hinata-chan…" Naruto began to cry into Hinata's shoulder.

"So we let you rebuild both the Senju and Uzumaki clans at once?"Hinata asked as Naruto nodded into her shoulder.

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Outside not far from the bunker a blond girl and a brunet were stopped by a couple of ANBU. "Halt what are you doing in this area of the forest?" Bear masked ANBU asked.

"We are here to see my niisan and Obaachan. I mean Tsunade-sama. My friend here is hurt badly and Naruto-niisan would like to make sure that our friend survives. If you could take us too him it would be great." The blond replied with her biggest smile.

"You look like Naruto-sama, are you saying that you are his sister?" Bear asked.

"You could say that, also tell him I have a couple secrets that he would love to learn." The girl replied with a foxy grin which caused both the ANBU to take notice and pause.

"I could swear I have seen Naruto-sama use that grin, she must be related to him." Bear stated as he put his hand to his ear. "Wolf we have a possible relative to Naruto-sama half a click out and we are bringing her and a friend in. The second appears to need medical treatment. Please Alert Tsunade-sama." Bear stated to no one in particular, he then turned to the girls and spoke. "Okay, follow me and no funny stuff. No molding chakra or anything. Do I make myself clear?"

The girls nodded as they followed Bear down a near non-existent path.

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Wolf entered the room as Hinata finished a gentle kiss with Naruto and had just wiped his eyes for his eyes.

"Tsunade-sama, we have a couple visitors. One is claiming to be Naruto's younger sister. She referred to him as niisan." Wolf stated as he watched Naruto's response. Naruto looked at him questioningly.

"Were there two girls? Was one blond and the other a brunet?" Naruto inquired.

Wolf nodded. "Yes and the brunet is apparently injured. We are taking them to the infirmary so if you all will accompany me we can see to our guests."

Everyone stood up and followed Wolf to one of the infirmary rooms. "Here they are." Wolf said as he opened the door to a blond that looked similar to Naruto's sexy jutsu but appeared to be a bit younger, maybe about twelve years old.

Tsunade looked at Naruto who walked over to the girl and hugged her. "You are still around after all this time? How?"

"It is a long story and we will have time but Tsunade-sama you need to help him." The girl stated. This caused everyone but Naruto to freeze and look at her like she was crazy. "What? He is a boy. Trust me I know, as I have had to give him enough sponge baths over the last several months. Can you help him with the hole in his chest? I know Naruto-niisan survived it but I am not sure how much longer Haku-kun will survive with that hole in his chest. It has so far not become infected but I am not sure how long he can hold out without some true medical attention." The girl stated as Tsunade moved over and opened Haku's kimono to see his chest bandaged.

She ran a diagnostic jutsu over the boy. "Okay Naruto, Hinata, Shizune, I need you all to wash up and help me work on your friend. I am not sure how he survived this long like this but it is a miracle." Tsunade ordered as all three moved to the sink in the room and washed up.

Shizune move beside Haku and smiled at the boy. "How are you feeling?"

Haku took a small breath. "I am very tired and quite dizzy."

The blond girl and Tsunade both moved to the sink and washed up. "What are you doing?" Tsunade asked.

"I have been taking care of him for the last several months and he is special to me and niisan." The girl answered.

"Is he the boy from the mission Naruto-kun did in the Wave country?" Tsunade asked as both finished toweling off their hands. "I know Naruto was an only child so why do you look like him?"

"First things first, fix Haku-kun and then I will answer all your questions." The girl answered as they walked over to Haku. "Okay be gentle with the wrapping, when you take it off make sure it isn't frozen to his skin. If needed warm it up with your hands. I think this is how he was able to survive so long without a left lung. I ran out of blood pills a couple days ago. Also I have a couple questions for you ladies if you wouldn't mind." The girl inquired.

"Sure but let's get your friend out of danger." Tsunade stated as she smiled warmly to the young girl.

They worked for the next half-hour to remove the bloody and nearly frozen bandages. Tsunade and Shizune then used Haku's hair to help rebuild Haku's chest. Both were exhausted after being able to heal the chest but not rebuild the missing lung. "Okay, your friend is out of danger for now and will be bedridden for a couple weeks as this heals. Naruto is that what happened when Sasuke hit you with his Chidori?"

Naruto nodded. "I believe so, I am not sure as I only felt it and didn't actually see it." Naruto sadly responded. Hinata gently grabbed his arm and attempted to give him comfort. This was not missed by the girl, who smiled warmly at Hinata's display of affection towards Naruto.

"So you finally noticed niisan? I figured it out the day of the chunin exams." The girl teased Naruto who just smiled at the girl.

Nothing further was said until the group made it to the mess hall.

"Tsunade-sama, Naruto-sama, Shizune-san, Hinata-sama, we are going back out on patrol." Wolf stated as he and the rest of the ANBU left the building. Tsunade nodded as she and the others slumped into one of the chairs at the table.

"I must say I am impressed young lady. You did a fantastic job of keeping him alive all this time. Between your work and his Kekkei Genkai he will live." Tsunade reported as the girl sighed relief. "Okay who are you and why do you call Naruto-kun niisan?"

"Well that is easy. I am one of Naruto-niisan's clones. But I think I am a new type of clone." The girl responded then turned to Naruto and smiled. "Got some news for you niisan, all those shadow clones are a great learning tools."

Naruto wore a confused look on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Well I know what you and your clones know. Whatever your clones know I know. I am figuring that you have not figured that out quite yet, and given how much everyone tell you things and that jerk of a sensei would never tell you about it. What the clones learn you should learn. I know you have too much going on up there to really notice." The girl told Naruto as she tapped his temple.

"Really? That is so neat. I wish I knew that before." Naruto replied happily.

"You mean that you don't know the particulars about the jutsu you are almost a specialist at?" Tsunade asked. Naruto's only response was to shake his head.

"Okay, here is the deal. For some odd reason I haven't dispersed like the other clones did. It took a week for them to run through all their chakra even when they ate some food. I only seemed to get weak when I was hungry. I am not sure if I can produce my own chakra so I have never tried to do anything while I continued to take care of Haku-kun. I was afraid I would disappear if I used chakra so I wanted to try to get Haku-kun into good enough health, so I could get him to Konoha and to ask you, Tsunade-sama to heal him at least well enough to either start a clan or even possibly become a shinobi again. Then when I learned from Naruto-niisan's clones how to do the Rasengan, more chakra control and the betrayal of the teme. You know even from my female perspective I can't figure out why most of the girls were after him. My only belief is that they wanted to be the girl who would take care of him and heal him." The girl stated with a laugh.

"Well what should we call you and what was the question you wanted to ask us girls?" Tsunade asked in a tired but happy voice.

"Well… Haku-kun called me Naruko-chan, I liked it so I guess you can call me Naruko. As for the question…" Naruko blushed. "Well… I am bleeding down there and don't know how or why I am bleeding. It started last night and I am sure I am not injured, but I am still bleeding."

"Shizune, take Naruko-chan and help her with dealing with her first cycle. While you girls are at it run some diagnostic on her. So we can get down to the bottom of this new clone Naruto created." Tsunade stated as she rose and got some coffee from the kitchen. She also grabbed several sandwiches for the group when the girls returned.

Shizune and Naruko returned a little while later smiling and a relieved look on their faces and Naruko was wearing a new kimono. "Tsunade-shishou, I am here to report that Naruko is a full fledged girl, complete in every way. I can only guess that she and Naruto-kun share a soul and thus the reason they both will learn from his shadow clones. She also is able to create her own chakra. She does not have the same capacity that Naruto-kun does but she still has a large capacity and may be able to tap into the Kyuubi's chakra as well. She told me that she transformed somewhat when Naruto fought Sasuke at the valley of the end. Not that she changed into a female but her features became more animalistic and her eyes became red with slits for pupils instead of round. We also checked on Haku-kun and he is doing fine and sleeping right now. We also took care of her 'feminine' problems. Naruto could you think about your lesson last night and create a clone then please dismiss the clone so that I don't have to go back over the lesson for Naruko-chan, here?" Shizune requested.

Naruto created the clone then dismissed it. Naruko looked like she was contemplating something then smiled wryly at Naruto. "I see you are confused, we can talk later and I can explain a few things to you so that you can better understand niisan." Naruko replied happily.

"So she is real, more so than a shadow clone?" Naruto asked.

"Yes like I said she has a solid body, with flowing blood and chakra. Naruto you have created a new life from yourself. She is in a way your twin sister. I will need to run a couple of blood cultures on both of you to make sure of this but I am sure that your genetic code is identical except for your 'Y' chromosome and her 'X' chromosome. I am just wondering where she got the extra genetic code to be able to be female." Shizune explained.

"I don't know either but when I was given burial detail for Haku and Zabuza, they of course took Sasuke back to the house for medical treatment but left me to deal with the bodies. Kakashi-sensei said I was best for the job because I could create a veritable army to do the work. Kakashi had to deal with medical treatment on Sasuke while I took care of the dead, and Haku's case not so dead bodies. I cut my hand just before I made my shadow clones and with my anger up there was a spike in Kyuubi chakra just as I made a dozen clones. The thing is all but one was male like me and the last one was Naruko here. They all diligently did the work with me until we got ready to bury Haku. Naruko there checked him for a pulse and found a faint one. We did what we could at the time and bandaged him up and tried to limit the blood loss. I also had the clones catch some food and pick some of the wild herbs. Doing this we were able to bring Haku back to some semblance of health but not that much." Naruto told his story.

"Didn't Kakashi ask you where you were during your time after you finished with burying the dead?" Tsunade asked.

"Yeah but I told him I was training and he bought it. The clones did last longer than I thought they would. I just wondered, can you contact Kyuubi?" Naruto inquired.

"I don't know. But if the spike in chakra at the time of my creation was it's doing then I guess it also had something to do with my creation." Naruko replied.

"Great, now the fox is messing with my clones. What is it up to?" Naruto asked to no one in particular. "Maybe we can both contact Kyuubi and find out what it's up too. Take my hand."

Naruko took Naruto's hand and they both closed their eyes. Tsunade spoke up as she tried to get the blonds to not go see Kyuubi. "Naruto-kun, I don't think that is such a good idea. Naruto?"

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Back in Konoha the council was getting impatient. "Jiraiya, where is Tsunade-hime?" Koharu asked.

"She is the Hokage and has asked that I attend this meeting in her stead. She wanted me to pass out these decrees for the council to go over." Jiraiya stated as he held back a snicker.

Koharu took the stack of papers and smiled at the first one and then passed it along. She blanched at the second and her condition continued to go south as she read each paper. "Are these correct? Is she serious?"

"Yes, she is. She was quite specific in finding out the reaction to the council as she has already sent copies to the Fire Daimyou." Jiraiya responded with a serious smile.

"I will read each in order:

_I Tsunade Senju hereby declare that that Naruto Uzumaki has agreed with much regret and anger to accept exile. Given that I declare that Naruto Uzumaki will be pardoned for all crimes he is accused of past, present and future. Godiame Hokage._

_I Tsunade Senju hereby declare that Naruto Uzumaki has finished all requirements for becoming part of the Senju clan. He was officially a provisional member when I returned to take up the position of Hokage. Thus any and all attacks upon Naruto Senju Uzumaki are an attack on the Senju clan. Godaime Hokage._

_I Tsunade Senju hereby declare that Naruto Uzumaki shall be a chunin for the village hidden in the leaves. I also announce his retirement from the ranks of Konoha for as long as he is banished. _

_I Tsunade Senju hereby declare that Sasuke Uchiha has willfully with much malice attack with the full intent to kill a member of the Senju clan and a Konoha shinobi duty bound to return him to said village. Sasuke Uchiha's shinobi status is hereby suspended and cannot be reinstated by the council. He will also serve a minimum of two years in prison for his crimes of abandoning the village for a known enemy and for nearly fatally injuring a Konoha shinobi. Godaime Hokage._

_I Tsunade Senju hereby declare that Hinata Hyuuga shall become my apprentice. Godaime Hokage._

_I Tsunade Senju hereby declare that Jiraiya is to be my named successor, unless the banishment is lifted upon Naruto Senju Uzumaki. Godaime Hokage._

_I Tsunade Senju hereby declare that the Sandaime's law is still in effect that Naruto Senju Uzumaki's condition shall not be known by the younger generation. I have also upped the punishment from interrogation to also include a minimum of one year imprisonment. Anyone from the council that willingly discloses this information shall be put to death as a traitor. Godaime Hokage. _

That is it for today. I hope you loved this as much as I have." Jiraiya stated with mirth in his voice.

"You can't be serious about this? Why would Tsunade-sama want for that demon to become part of her prestigious clan?" The Haruno civilian representative asked.

"Well… have you ever taken any time to meet and talk to the gaki?" Jiraiya asked.

"No, it is on my daughter's team, and that is more than I can stand. I am glad he is gone." The Haruno replied with much venom in his voice.

"The gaki has a way with most people if they just take the time to get to know him. He is not what you think he is. He is much, much more. He is even my apprentice. And before you idiot go running your mouths listen for a minute. He learned the Rasengan in a month, summoning a boss in less than a month, and the shadow clone in only a few hours." Jiraiya explained.

"That is because he is the demon." The Haruno representative exclaimed.

Jiraiya was upon the man in an instant, and raised him by the collar. "Are you an expert in seals?" The man shook his head to Jiraiya's question. "Well I am. And your precious Uchiha is under the influence of both his own psychosis and has a seal upon him left by my former teammate, Orochimaru." This caused several gasps and flared killing intent from the clan heads. "I have examined the seal on Naruto and it is fine, no thanks to Orochimaru, as he had placed a seal over the original during the chunin exams. I was able to remove it, and the gaki was able to beat others with his chakra in a mess in the preliminaries. I dare you to beat anyone with your chakra all messed up. I am sorry Tsume, but he was able to beat Kiba Inuzuka without access to the majority of his chakra and he was in quite a bit of pain also so if you believe he is still the demon than I will allow you your stupidity."

"Also I would like to take the civilian council to task for having Kakashi take my injured son on a trip looking for Naruto Senju Uzumaki. I want it put in the record that I and my clan are very mad with the council and may join Naruto in his exile." Tsume warned. 'Little do they know that I sent off Hana to find the boy and see what help we can offer to him'.

"That is enough Tsume-hime. We are here to ask Jiraiya why Tsunade-hime is not here." Homura stated.

"Why do you old farts not call her by her proper title but by her name? Have you no respect for the office she holds?" Jiraiya angrily asked.

"We respect the Hokage and she has up to this point been an adequate one. I am little worried by her decrees about Sasuke though and taking Uzumaki into her clan without permission of the council." Koharu stated in an annoyed voice.

"What business is it what the clans do? The council has little to no authority over clan affairs." Hiashi stated in a slight angered tone.

"Enough, Hiashi-san! You will show respect to the elders on the council." Homura yelled angrily.

"The bulk of the council has come to a couple of decisions." Koharu started. "First Sasuke Uchiha will become the apprentice of Jiraiya." Jiraiya shook his head with a smirk on his face. "Second to bind Sasuke to the village he will be married to several girls, yes arranged marriages." This caused the clan heads to perk up, especially ones with daughters. "Sasuke Uchiha is hereby engaged to Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuuga, Hana Inuzuka, Mizu Hitugawa and finally Yakumo Kurama." This caused all the clan heads to stand and begin yelling their protests. Finally Jiraiya was able to bring the group under control.

"I think the council has over stepped its bounds. Other than the Hitugawa and Haruno girl all are either in the heirs of their respective clans. Tying a traitor like Sasuke to all those girls will allow him to have a dagger to the throat of the village. This is not acceptable move from the council. Tsunade and I will take this up with the Fire Daimyou." Jiraiya stated as his anger began to boil over.

"I would rather have my daughter married to the exiled boy than the much hated Uchiha!" Hiashi shouted in.

"Hiashi again you are out of line." Homura retorted.

"Out of line? How can I be out of line when you propose to put the whole of the Hyuuga under the banner of a traitor who only wants for power and nothing else?" Hiashi demanded.

"He is last member of one of the founding clans of this village." Danzou spoke up.

"As are the Hyuuga, and much bad blood still exists between the two clans." Hiashi retorted.

"This would be a way of healing that bad blood, Hiashi-san." Koharu replied.

"Not if my daughter is after another. She has shown no inclination to the traitor. She has shown apathy if not actual anger for what he has done to Uzumaki-san." Hiashi replied.

"Also Hana would not be happy with the traitor for what Kiba went through on his mission to retrieve the traitor." Tsume added her arguments to Hiashi's against Sasuke.

"The Akamichi are also angered at the Uchiha, specifically Sasuke." Chouza stated as he slammed his hand on the table.

"The Yamanaka as allies of the Akamichi and Nara also add their protest to this situation. As I can see it the council is pitting the clans against the civilians. Sure there are a lot of civilian families that have shinobi in their ranks but would the village force the established clans to either leave or have their daughters married off to a traitor?" Inoichi asked pointedly

"We are not asking the clans to pick between their daughters and the village. The clans should accept the wisdom of the council." Homura stated almost pompously.

"Wisdom, is that what you call it, in tying a traitor to the village? Use someone else's children." Hiashi stated, and was seconded by the other clan leaders.

"Actually I fear for Yakumo-sama, she would not do well with Sasuke-san. I would also fear for any children that were produced as Sasuke-san does not seem balanced and might neglect his possible children for other things that are of his interest. I also call into question his intention of rebuilding the clan here in Konoha, as he has shown little interest in females at all. Yakumo-sama isn't even a shinobi, which from what I have heard is a requirement of the Uchiha. The Kurama clan will not be party to causing further anguish to Yakumo-sama. There will be no marriage between Sasuke Uchiha and Yakumo Kurama. That is our clan's final decision, the council be damned." The Kurama representative stated.

"I am sure you can get the Haruno girl agree to this as she is currently under arrest for assaulting a patient in the care of medical staff and a fellow shinobi. But I am sure she would be thrilled to hear she is betrothed to the Uchiha." Jiraiya stated. "As for taking the traitor on as an apprentice I will talk to Gamabunta, but I am sure he will say no."

"Gamabunta has no say in this." Koharu replied.

"Actually for him to become my apprentice he will have to do hard work and the really isn't the Uchiha style. He will want it all handed to him and I just can't train anyone like that. They have to work for it. So I have to decline on the privilege to train Sasuke-teme." Jiraiya stated in confrontational fashion.

"Why did you refer to Sasuke-sama as a teme?" The Haruno representative inquired.

"He attempted to kill my disciple and he has been touched by Orochimaru. I will not train a boy who is evil enough to tell someone they are a friend and then tell them that they have to kill them for power. That is not going to happen. And if this council forces me to train him he will meet up with a training accident. But I don't have to worry about that as he is a suspended shinobi." Jiraiya said with a huge grin.

Suddenly the door opens and Sasuke Uchiha walks into the room wearing pajamas and a bath-robe with his Sharingan activated.

"You will train me Jiraiya." Sasuke states as his guards moved with him.

---------

A/N: Yes I know another cliffhanger… But this one is silly at best and will be dealt with early on in the next chapter which has already been written and I have back from my beta. Yes again thanks to Chewee Cooke for quick response. I also had to fix a few things here so I have re-uploaded the edited chapter.

As to your questions on the girls in the lab, well one is an Uchiha, the youngest is an experiment similar to Isaribi, and the last is a Hodge-podge experiment. I will not get into the actual relationships right now as they come into play later. As Chewie stated in his comments this is not a harem, I will get that out of the way now. I will hint towards that on several occasion but this will not be a harem flick I have already determined who will end up with whom. Naruto and Tsunade will eventually have children but there will be no relationship other than the sire of children for the clan, and the aunt and nephew relationship. The children will be raised by Naruto and Hinata later but that is later and I am hoping you will forget this part of my author notes so that you will be anticipating more twists and turns in the story.

As you already know some of the things I have to do because of the challenge from Perfect Lionheart. I will have fun with this story. Some things I will give you information on now. Snow mission happened as in the movie and the Daimyou is very adoring of Naruto. The land of Tea also likes and adores Naruto. Any mission that Naruto went on before the Sasuke defection happened. So as you can guess when information gets out Oto will be somewhat pleased that Naruto is exiled. Yuki (Snow), Wave, and Tea will not be happy with Konoha.

For those asking questions on Naruko, here are some answers. Yes, she is an actual living creature, as she shares a soul with Naruto, and thus is able to learn from shadow clones created by both. I will explain everything in time. She has some medical and herbal knowledge. She will seem more intelligent than Naruto because he has several problems to deal with the worst being that he was denied the most basic of teachings parent to child, interaction. Naruto also has to deal with the seal which takes a part of his unconscious mind to deal with it. Yes his subconscious is part that has to deal with suppressing the demon with sheer will power. So since Naruko does not have to deal with that distraction she can learn faster and figure things out quicker, they will work as a team later on.

Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I am putting the final touches on chapter 5. I still have some curve balls for you guys. Until next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Why do I do this when you all know I don't own anything other than my computer at home?

Big thanks goes to Chojomeka for showing what I was pointing out in the last chapter. Jeez... I also edited and fixed chapter 4, there was several grammar and spelling problems that did not come through when I saved the document and then uploaded the unedited document... sorry, no big changes but some of the things should be better now with the changed chapter should be much better. I am sorry for those who decided to leave and they will be missed. Now back to the story....

Chapter 5 – Complications and dismissal… Okay, not in that order…

Suddenly, the door opened and Sasuke Uchiha walked into the room wearing a hospital gown under a bath-robe and wielding his Sharingan.

"You will train me Jiraiya." Sasuke stated as his guards move with him.

"I will not and your little Sharingan trick will not work on me. But if you don't believe me let's go outside and see what Gamabunta has to say." Jiraiya replied with a wry smile.

The whole council, Sasuke, his escort, and Jiraiya all went outside to the top of the Hokage tower. Jiraiya bit his finger, rubbed the blood on his left hand and then made several hand signs. "Summoning jutsu!"

A huge orange toad with a scar on his left eye appeared next to the Hokage tower. **"Jiraiya! What do you want, you lecherous old man?" **Gamabunta demanded.

"Well Gamabunta, Sasuke-teme…" Jiraiya's comment caused Sasuke to scowl at him. "Wants me to make him my apprentice, what do you say? Oh and the council ordered it to be so." Jiraiya added.

"**Come here boy! Let me see you."** Gamabunta demanded.

Sasuke walked to the edge of the tower and looked directly into Gamabunta's eyes. "You will become my summons." Sasuke stated bluntly.

Gamabunta laugh hard and then became very serious. **"You attacked and attempted to kill my favorite gaki. You think any of the toad summons would like you? Bah, I should just lop off your head now to rid the world of your kind. Your kind has been nothing but trouble." **

"Please Gamabunta do not disrespect Uchiha-sama." The Haruno representative pleaded.

"I do not need your prattling. You will do as I say!" Sasuke yelled as his Sharingan began to spin. Gamabunta froze then his eyes appeared to glaze over.

"**Summons are special…" **Gamabunta droned, his eyes then appeared to change back to a jovial attitude. **"Your genjutsu was not strong enough to capture me boy, and even if it was I would sooner kill you than become your summons. The toad elders have decreed that if Konoha demanded we serve Sasuke Uchiha then we would dissolve our relationship with Konoha, other than Jiraiya and Naruto. We shall therefore become a family summons only for the Jiraiya and Naruto. So the council can shove their demands. For this worm is not worthy of becoming one who will summon toads. I am also sure that the slugs will agree with the toads. So do not push this point again. Summoning is a matter of trust and we do not trust Sasuke Uchiha. His use of a genjutsu on me was even more proof of his unworthiness. Now I am going to inform Naruto of this little development." **Gamabunta stated and then looked at the council. **"You know who you are and what you have done. He was supposed to be the hero of Konoha but you shunned him. For this, the toads will teach Naruto to the best of our abilities. And take that snake tainted worm back to prison where he belongs." **

"Hey!" Sasuke yelled. "You can't just turn away from me and turn me down."

Gamabunta brought his scared eye up to Sasuke's level, the eye was as big as Sasuke. **"Oh really? The gaki earned my respect. You, on the other hand, feel you deserve my respect. What have you done to earn my respect? You attacked a friend of mine, you attempted to use genjutsu to get your way and now you demand that I acquiesce to your demands. That is your third strike, teme, I am out of here, Jiraiya."** Gamabunta disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"You will let me sign the contract now." Sasuke demanded.

The council heard a window open and someone came up to the roof, it was Tsunade. "What is going on, Jiraiya?" Tsunade demanded. "And what is Sasuke doing out the high security wing of the hospital?"

"Well apparently the council in its 'infinite wisdom', decided to let Sasuke out for a friendly stroll. They then have the 'wisdom' to demand that I have Sasuke sign the toad summoning scroll and train him." Jiraiya replied.

Tsunade got a tick-mark on her temple. "I had specifically told you to deal with the council for me. Are you saying that they aren't too much for you and that I need to deal with them?" Tsunade demanded as she stared down the council.

"Even better! The elders are just referring to you as Tsunade-hime instead of Hokage." Jiraiya jabbed at the elders.

The tick-mark grew even larger. "What? I don't mind you referring to me like that in private but in council chambers you will respect my rank as Hokage! Do I make myself clear?" Tsunade demanded. "The council is disbanded for the rest of the day. Hiashi, Tsume, and Jiraiya, come to my office now!" Tsunade demanded as she jumped back down to her office window.

The council left in a huff, while the three took the stairs down to Tsunade's office. When the three entered the office Tsunade was doing paperwork and looked rather pissed. Hiashi activated his Byakugan and then nodded as a single ANBU left the corner of the office and closed the door. "Do you think they bought it?" Hiashi asked to the assembled group.

"I hope so and I'm glad Naruto helped teach me that special Henge so I could copy Tsunade and fool the council." Jiraiya replied.

-----------

Tsunade smiled happily. "Well Naruko we have figured out what is going on with you. You are a clone of Naruto, not a jutsu one either. You are a near identical twin to Naruto. We are still examining the extra strand that give you an 'X' chromosome instead of a 'Y' like Naruto but we are sure that the Kyuubi had something to do with it. So welcome to the Senju clan Naruko Senju Uzumaki."

Naruko smiled happily. "Thanks obasan."

"We also found you have several Kekkei Genkai. Like Naruto-kun you have rapid healing, unlike him though yours is slower as it uses your own chakra, the good thing is that your chakra capacity is the same as Naruto's would be if he did not have Kyuubi, which is still quite substantial. You also appear to be still under your families' special henge." Tsunade continues as she read from the report that she and Shizune had done on Naruto and Naruko.

"Okay then here I go. 'Release'." Naruko stated as cloud appeared around her.

Hinata squealed with delight as the cloud dissipated. "Cute!" Hinata and Shizune yelled at the same time. Naruto began to snicker as Naruko's face began to sadden.

"What's wrong with me?" Naruko asked sadly.

"It's alright neechan, here." Naruto handed her a hand mirror.

Naruko's face turned from sad to surprised and then to gleeful. "I'm so cute!" She screamed as Naruto winced at the sound of his now sister squealing with glee. Naruko had fox ears and a long fox-tail both covered in blond hair with white tips. Both Naruto and Naruko heard a low chuckle in their minds.

"Well she did say that she gave you a present, I guess this is what it is." Naruto commented as he remembered their encounter with the fox.

(Flashback)

Naruto stood next to Naruko holding her hand as they stood before the gates that held the Kyuubi.

"**What do you want whelp? Oh I see you brought our daughter." **The Kyuubi stated bluntly.

Naruto looked totally confused. "What do you mean daughter? She looks just like me except for being female. And how is she actually alive instead of a shadow clone?" Naruto inquired. "And I don't remember having had sex with you at anytime." Naruko blushed at Naruto's statement.

The Kyuubi turned its head in apparent shame. **"You don't remember the night we spent together? I am hurt." **The Kyuubi stated as if Naruto had actually hurt its feelings.

"You mean you're a girl?" Naruto yelled in complete surprise.

The Kyuubi turned its head slightly and nodded.

"WHAT?" Both Naruto and Naruko yelled at the same time.

"**You amuse me kit. But to answer your question yes I am a female, and no we did not have sex. It might be possible, but only here in your mind. As for our daughter or your sister as you can refer to her, it just happened to be luck that we were able to produce her. The combination of demonic chakra, blood, and a shadow clone, along with a little help from me created Naruko here. I gave her your genetics but also added something to it, you can call it a surprise present from your mother Naruko." **The Kyuubi stated with a chuckle.

Naruto and Naruko looked at each other in surprise.

"**Now leave me kits, I need my beauty sleep." **The Kyuubi stated as she lay down and began to sleep.

Naruto and Naruko woke up back in the mess hall. "Well that was interesting…" Naruto commented as Naruko just nodded.

"Are you two ok?" Tsunade asked in a worried voice.

"Yah, but who knew the fox was a vixen?" Naruto blankly replied.

"She even called me her daughter." Naruko stated as everyone in the mess hall jaws dropped at both statements.

After a few moments of silence Tsunade spoke. "I warned you not to go, but at least you got some useful information."

"Yeah, other than her being a vixen with a sick sense of humor, she also was responsible for creating Naruko." Naruto stated.

"How so?" Tsunade asked.

"Well it appears the combination of some blood, a shadow clone, and some demonic chakra is enough to create what would best be described as a blood clone, if not a full clone of sorts. I am not sure how to describe it but the Kyuubi teased Naruto about them having sex, too." Naruko stated as Hinata froze then appeared to become depressed.

"What's wrong Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked concerned about Hinata.

"I wanted to be Naruto-kun's first." Hinata said having a slight fit.

The group laughed at Hinata's antics. "Relax Hinata-chan, Naruto could only do that within his mind so it would be like a dream and would never have happened." Naruko stated as she rubbed Hinata's back in an attempt to comfort her. Naruto and Naruko heard a growl then a laugh in their minds. Both rolled their eyes. "I guess she is somewhat possessive of you, niisan, or should I say dad?" Naruko teased Naruto.

(End flashback)

"My guess is that Naruko is a physical clone that shares her soul with Naruto. And thus the reason they both can learn from shadow clones they produce. She of course has better chakra control and has learned all of Naruto's skills so they are both separate sides of the same coin." Tsunade stated.

Wolf appeared suddenly. "Sorry to disturb you Hokage-sama, but we have another guest and she wishes to offer her support from the Inuzuka clan to Uzumaki-sama."

Naruto looked at Tsunade who just shrugged her shoulders. "Guess it wouldn't hurt to see what she wants. Is it Tsume?" Tsunade asked as the group got up and headed to the entrance of the facility.

"No it is Hana Inuzuka, Hokage-sama." Wolf replied. "Naruko-sama you might want to cover up your… accessories, ma'am." Wolf added as the group headed towards the front door. Naruko re-engaged her henge, thus hiding her ears and tail.

The group exited the building and saw Hana, two dogs and two ANBU flanking her all knelt and bowed before them. "I bring greetings from the Inuzuka clan, Naruto-sama." Hana began. "I also offer my hand in marriage as an offering to you and your clan."

Naruto, not knowing what to do, pulled a Hinata and fainted. Hinata was immediately upon him and gently put his head in her lap.

Hana wore a confused look upon her face. "What happened?"

"My little cousin is not used to so much positive attention." Tsunade replied as Naruko giggled. Hinata gently brushed her fingers across Naruto's face as they waited for him to wake up.

"My apologies Lady Tsunade, for me hurting your cousin." Hana stated and again bowed.

Tsunade laughed and gently picked up Naruto. "Come on in Hana. We will talk about this inside, as it looks like it's going to rain. Wolf, how come this place keeps on being found by outsiders?" Tsunade asked.

"I am not sure but we will try to destroy the trail again and create a new one heading off elsewhere, we will also use scent blockers this time." Wolf replied as he and the other ANBU disappeared.

Tsunade gently laid Naruto down on his bed as Hinata pulled the cover up on him and then lay down beside him.

"So the Inuzuka want you to wed Naruto-kun?" Tsunade asked, as they all took seats in various places in the room. Naruko sat at the foot of Naruto's bed and laid a hand on his leg.

Hana looked at the blond girl. "Who is she and why does she remind me of Naruto-sama?" Hana asked.

"I am his sister." Naruko answered but put her hand up to stop the next question. "It is a long story and we still have a question pending with you."

Hana look at the girl then nodded. "Well sort of. You see… the council members are getting full of themselves, and they appear to want most of the eligible kunoichi around Sasuke Uchiha's age to be betrothed to him. The clans are not pleased and are arguing against it. Hiashi-sama has already said that he would marry Hinata-san here off to Naruto-sama before he would have an Uchiha in his family." Hana nodded to Hinata who beamed at hearing her father at least somewhat approved of her chasing Naruto.

"So my niisan is now the most eligible bachelor on the market?" Naruko commented then giggled. "Looks like Hinata-chan's got competition."

Hinata stuck her tongue out at Naruko then hugged Naruto gently. Everyone laughed at the girl's antics. "I would of course allow Hinata-san to be the alpha female in the relationship." Hana stated kindly.

"Well you see there are some other complications to add to this mess." Shizune said with a blush.

"Don't tell me all of you are going to marry him too?" Hana replied in shock.

"No, that isn't it as all." Shizune tried to reassure Hana while she waved her hands in front of her. "You see Naruto-kun as agreed to father a few children with Tsunade-sama, using me as the surrogate mother, in the hopes of bringing back the Mokuton bloodline." Shizune explained.

Hana cocked her head. "So would that make you wife number two or what?"

Shizune blushed, and this time both Hinata and Tsunade noticed it. "Um… I am not sure…" Shizune stammered out.

Hana shook her head. "So Tsunade-sama is going to bank some eggs and then fertilize them later?" Tsunade just nodded. "I am quite familiar with the procedure as we do that with our dogs on occasion when we have either a strong bitch or male."

"Are the Inuzuka the only ones?" Naruko inquired.

"No, the Inuzuka are not the only clan that is offering to be betrothed to Naruto-sama." Hana commented as Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Yes the Kurama also want to offer-also. The problem is the heir suffers from being haunted by a demon. And the clan is very powerful with genjutsu."

Naruto woke up and looked longingly up at Hinata. "What happened, Hinata-chan?"

"You, Naruto-kun, have a lot to think about." Hinata replied as she gently tapped her fingers on his nose.

"What do you mean, Hinata-chan?" Naruto continued to look confused.

"Well Naruto-kun, you are now being asked to marry Hana Inuzuka and possibly the heir to the Kurama clan. But first, you have to answer if you will marry the heir to the Hyuuga clan." Hinata said boldly.

"If it will make you happy Hinata-chan I will, as you make me happy." Naruto answered as he leaned his head into her hip and closed his eyes contently.

"The clans will not require an answer right away. Also the way the council is pushing several of the clans may desert the village and join you Naruto-sama. The heads of the Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Yamanaka, Akamichi, Nara, and Kurama clans all support you both Tsunade-sama and Naruto-sama." Hana stated. "The Nara have the hardest decision as they have medical, research and animal husbandry facilities that would have to be shut down and moved from Konoha, even though they do support you."

Bear appeared with someone behind him and a kunai to his throat. "You know gaki I was hired to kill you but I say fuck it. Want to jump into bed and screw my brains out?" Anko stepped out from behind Bear and withdrew her kunai.

Naruto's eyes went wide. "Why would I want to h-have sex with a crazy bitch like you?" Naruto yelled as he pointed his finger at Anko.

Anko not fazed by the question just cleaned her fingernails with her kunai. "Because, it would be fun gaki." Anko wore a devious smile as she looked hungrily at Naruto.

"See I told you she could help you with your sex education lessons." Tsunade teased.

"What? Did he not get the lesson? We will have to fix that." Anko stated as she took off her trench coat and began to remove her fishnet shirt.

Hinata's eyes went wide then became stone cold. "No! Mine!" Hinata yelled as she leaned over and protectively hugged Naruto.

Anko smirked as she was holding her shirt revealing her breasts to the group. "Well then maybe later, gaki. You don't know what you missed, but we can find out later." Anko walked out with her trench coat and shirt held over her shoulder and a definite swagger in her walk. "Either you get him first or I will." Anko warned as she walked with the ANBU who just shook his head and showed her a room down the hall.

Naruto shook his head. "Man, my life is getting too complicated. First, I find the girl I thought I loved hates me for doing what she asked. Then, I find one who loves me for me, I get offered to become a father, then I'm offered the daughters of several clans, and then to top it off, psycho-bitch wants to join the club!" Naruto exclaimed in frustration.

"I heard that gaki. I will see you tonight, and the blue haired one can join in too, should be fun." Anko yelled from down the hallway. Naruto and Hinata blushed deeply.

"You never thought you would have fan girls, did you Naruto-kun?" Tsunade teased. "I even think Shizune might be one!" Shizune blushed at this.

"Shadow clones might even make it more fun." Anko yelled again from down the hall.

"Jeez, she only has one thing on her mind doesn't she?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Nope, killing or sex, that makes two." Anko said gently from the door entrance. "Look I know you had it rough kid. I did too, having Orochimaru as a sensei didn't exactly make for a good impression on the village." Anko said in an almost hurt voice. "I use both as tool to deal with the hurt like you use the happy idiot act."

Naruto looked at Anko and saw not the psycho woman but another hurt soul like him. "I will think about it but not anytime soon." Naruto replied to her unasked question.

Anko immediately perked up. "Works for me, and if he has as much stamina in bed that he has outside of it I will be a happy woman." Naruto blanched at this statement. "What? Old enough to kill, means you are old enough to fuck." Anko stated with a smile as she left a blushing Naruto and Hinata, who both considered the implications of Anko's statement.

Naruto whispered into Hinata's ear. "No way, I can barely handle just one girl, adding more to the mix would just confuse me. I wanted to be the center of attention but I am not sure I could handle more than one girlfriend and eventual wife." Naruto explained as Hinata blushed.

Hinata leaned in and whispered into his ear. "I will make sure you are happy Naruto-kun. Remember you do not have to accept any of the offers of marriage." Hinata gulped and then sighed. "Not even mine."

Naruto turned to her in surprise. "Why wouldn't I accept it?" Naruto quietly asked.

Hinata sighed and smiled gently. "We will discuss this later Naruto-kun." Hinata gently kissed him on the lips and then the forehead.

Tsunade noticed the conversation and stood. "Hana I have something to show you and would like your opinion, Naruko can you accompany us. Anko take a load off and rest. Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan have some things to discuss." Tsunade left the room with almost everyone in tow.

"Naruto-kun, rest now, we will talk when we wake up." Hinata gently ordered Naruto as she slipped under the covers with him and snuggled up to him. Both fell quickly asleep.

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"Interesting, I would say either a lizard or a fish hybrid, poor girl. Does she have gill slits?" Hana inquired.

"Not from what we can find. We have even run water over her neck in the off chance they are there. She appears to have fully developed lungs but the x-rays and MRI scans have revealed no gills. Hinata-chan has examined her and her chakra network is advanced enough that she could work as a genin in the field. Also the scales do not seem to dry out like you would expect a fish to." Shizune stated as she and Hana went over the report on the patient.

Hana moved to the next patient. "Female, apparent age fourteen, several scars and heal marks, no other distinguishing marks. Apparent skin grafts from other donors, possibly from Kekkei Genkai donors. According to Hinata-chan, her chakra network is in shambles, and there's no possibility for recovery, but she could lead a normal life as a civilian." Hana read from the chart as they continued on to the third patient.

"This one is an interesting case. Female, seventeen, Uchiha, she was thought to have been lost on a mission before the Uchiha massacre four years ago. She was listed as a chunin at the time. Her chakra network is fine and we believe her Sharingan is fully developed. She is listed as perfect specimen for a breeder in Orochimaru's records, by a medic named Karin. She should be waking before the others and we should keep an eye on her for the time being." Shizune commented as she noticed the girl's hand move. "Hana go get Tsunade I think that she is waking up."

Hana quickly left the room.

-----

"Okay we will have to wait for your period to be over so that we can give you a full exam. Also I want you to join Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan in their medical studies. Shall we go check on Haku-kun?" Tsunade asked as Naruko blushed and nodded agreement.

They entered Haku's room to see his eyes open and smiling at the two that entered his room. "Hello, Naruko-chan. Is this Tsunade-sama?" Tsunade nodded her answer. "It is an honor to meet you, and thank you for healing me. I hope Naruto-kun isn't too put out by me being here in Konoha."

Tsunade threw her head back in a hearty laugh. "Son, we are not in Konoha. Naruto-kun was exiled and I decided to go with him. If that village did not appreciate him, then I say to hell with them." Tsunade commented.

Haku wore a shocked look on his face. "Naruto-kun is alright isn't he?"

"For the most part, he was injured and is recovering from wounds received when Sasuke Uchiha ran away from the village. Naruto-kun was the one to bring him back, and was exiled for his troubles." Tsunade replied.

Naruko walked over to Haku and hugged him gently and then she gently kissed him on the cheek. "What was that for?" Haku asked with a blush and a confused look on his face.

Naruko looked up and gave her most innocent look she could muster. "Just because I am happy to see you up again."

"I am happy to, but also a little confused. You are a clone of Naruto and a kiss would mean…" Haku could not quite complete his thought out loud.

"Nope, I maybe a clone but Naruto-niisan is a boy and I am most definitely a girl." Naruko replied with a smile and a blush.

Haku blushed profusely. "That would mean… that… you saw me…"

"Yep, in the nude. Don't worry too much I promise I will continue to give you gentle sponge baths whenever you like… Haku-kun…" Naruko said Haku's name seductively as Tsunade laughed.

"Now none of that Naruko. He has just gone through major surgery and is still missing a lung. If we can work on the gene splicing we might be able to rebuild your lung Haku. Until then you are to take it easy, Doctor's orders." Tsunade stated gently. "Now for our love struck friend." Tsunade indicated she was talking about Naruko, who just blushed. "Nice to know that you are actually female and your feeling were not wrong or just different from Naruto-kun's."

Haku looked confused as he looked between the two females. "Feelings? What feelings are you talking about?"

"Naruko at least has a crush on you Haku. Her heart is in your hands so don't break it." Tsunade both warned and teased Haku.

Haku blushed and then looked at Naruko with gently almost loving eyes. "How could I break the heart of a girl who took such loving care of me for so long?" He lifted his left arm and wrapped around Naruko as she blushed and returned the hug.

"Naruko… he has to know…" Tsunade stated impatiently.

Naruko wore a sad puppy look on her face. "Know, know what?" Haku asked.

"Please don't be afraid Haku-kun." Naruko pleaded with Haku as he nodded.

Naruko released the henge showing her tail and ears. Haku laughed gently at Naruko who began to pout. "Is that what you are worried about? Cute ears, and a tail? Wait a second, a tail? What is going on?" Haku asked, worried for Naruko's health.

Tsunade sighed as she sat down in a chair next to the bed. "This all comes back to Naruto and his… guest."

"Guest?" Haku asked as he again hugged Naruko.

"Yes, Naruto is a jinchuuriki, the jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed demon Kyuubi. Well, as you know, Naruto has a way with shadow clones. Mix that with some of Naruto's blood, Kyuubi's chakra, and a demon that wants to add some chaos into the world, and you get Naruko. She is truly a near human female, and, no, I am not trying to be insulting. She has a small part of her genetic code that is part demon. She would in some small way qualify as a hanyou or half demon but only has a small amount of demon DNA, that being the genetic code that makes her female as opposed to male. The result is her having those fox-like features. She does not have normal ears but the ones on the top of her head. The tail is connected to the spine and can lie flat on her back. If you are into bloodlines she has a few, one is the fox features which more than likely will be passed down to her children, her large chakra capacity, and regeneration." Tsunade explained the situation carefully.

"I have a bloodline too just like Naruko-chan. you do not hold it against me do you?" Haku asked with a worried look on his face.

"No, I don't as I carry the Mokuton bloodline within me, but mine is dormant, as it only shows up in males of my family." Tsunade reassured Haku.

Haku sighed in relief as he heard her words. Suddenly Hana ran into the room and looked straight at Naruko. "Okay… now that is different. Tsunade-sama the Uchiha girl is waking up. Naruko drop the henge and come along." Hana ordered as she ran back towards the Uchiha's room…

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A/N: We will see if this chapter is any good for the readers, I had fun with this chapter even with the onslaught of bad reviews. I figure I can weather them and get back to the story. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	6. Chapter 6 On to Wave

Disclaimer: Ha I claim nothing… Other than what I use as my own storyline. Any similarities to any other stories or cannon is merely coincidental….

Chapter 6 – On to Wave…

Naruko looked at Haku and rolled her eyes. She jumped up, then turned and gently hugged Haku. "I'll be right back." Naruko said seductively and Haku blushed at her comment. Naruko turned and left with Tsunade. "He is going to be okay isn't he?" She asked with deep concern in her voice.

Tsunade smiled and sighed as they continued to the room they needed to get to. "Yes he will be okay. I also want both you and him to do the medical training also. I am sure he has good chakra control and you know that you have less chakra and more control than Naruto, so if you both work on control…" Tsunade thought out loud.

"Then my lesser chakra might add to his control." Naruko concluded for Tsunade as she nodded agreement.

"I am not sure how you liking Haku and him liking Hinata will pan out at this point in time, especially if you share the experiences of shadow clones." Tsunade pondered out loud.

Hana commented as Naruko and Tsunade entered the room. "I told you to disengage that henge Naruko."

"It isn't a henge, but I can re-engage the other one." Naruko replied as she reverted back to human form.

"Oh…" Was Hana's only response.

The girl in the bed opened her eyes slowly, her face went from serine to fear instantly as she saw the IV in her arm. "I will not be a slave to Orochimaru!" She croaked out.

"Easy child." Tsunade replied in a soothing voice. "Orochimaru left you for dead and we saved you. I am Tsunade Senju of the Sannin."

The girl visibly relaxed. She then took the glass of water offered by Naruko, who smiled gleefully at the Uchiha girl. "Hi, my name is Naruko. What is yours?"

The girl drank the water quickly then offered the glass to Naruko who then filled the glass again. "You drink too much and you will have to go pee. That is if you don't already have too." Naruko commented as the girls eyes went wide. "You need to pee don't you?" Naruko asked as the girl nodded. "Okay ladies let's get her to the bathroom."

The ladies helped the Uchiha to the bathroom to allow her to relieve herself. Afterwards they helped her back to her bed. "Thank you very much, my name is Ayane Uchiha." Ayane stated weakly, she then looked at Tsunade. "Tsunade, 'the' Tsunade?"

Tsunade nodded as she finished tucking Ayane back into her bed. "What do you remember?"

Ayane blushed. "Well I don't remember being this tall, for one. Also I had just been promoted to chunin and would soon be put into the police force under Lord Fugaku." Tsunade tensed at that name. "I am sorry Sannin-sama. Did I offend you with naming my clan head?"

"Not really but he has been dead for a few years now, about four now." Tsunade lied.

"I see, did any of my clan survive?" Ayane inquired. "I was twelve last time I remember, but cousin Itachi was training me some, but his little annoyance of a brother would always get in our way of talking. Itachi told me that we might be married if… wait died four years ago?"

"Yes you have been a captive of Orochimaru for nearly five years. We found you here and brought you out of hibernation, so to speak. Your muscles have atrophied, and your mind is about five years behind your body. You are a beautiful girl of seventeen. Also there are a few things we need to talk about." Tsunade stated with a serious voice as Ayane nodded. "Your clan was destroyed by one person about four years ago, only one the murderer and his brother survived."

"Who are they? I will kill them both." Ayane stated with much vigor.

"Whoa there, you want to kill Itachi-oi and Sasuke-teme?" Tsunade asked with a smile on her face.

"What do you mean Itachi-oi and Sasuke-oi?" Ayane asked confused and wondered just what was going on.

"Hana, Naruko-chan will you both please leave us as I have several things that have to be discussed with Ayane here." Tsunade ordered as both Hana and Naruko bowed and left the room and headed back to check on Haku.

Tsunade sat on the bed beside Ayane and took her hand. "What I am going to tell you, does not leave this room, do I make myself clear?" Tsunade told her with her eyes looking very stern.

"Sure Tsunade-sama. I understand." Ayane nodded acknowledgement.

"I am, at least for a little bit longer the Hokage of Konoha. I came across some information that was only known by a few of the council and the Hokage. The elders of Konoha ordered the Uchiha put to the sword for sedition." Tsunade paused as Ayane gasped. "The true irony is that they forged the Hokage's orders and had Itachi do the deed. What he didn't know was that the order was not valid, even though he could not bring himself to kill his brother."

"Does Itachi-kun live?" Ayane implored.

"Yes he does and he works for an organization that is bent on hurting my cousin, Naruto." Tsunade stated bluntly.

"Do you mean the Kyuubi-boy that the rest of the clan hated? I know Itachi-kun I know liked him very much." Ayane asked.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean he liked Naruto-kun? And how do you know about Kyuubi?"

Ayane got a distant look in her eyes. "Well Itachi-kun would tell me stories about his job of protecting the village pariah. He used to say that the boy was more than everyone thought he was. He had so much potential. I sort of got to feel sorry for how they treated the boy. As for knowing about the Kyuubi, the whole clan other than Sasuke-dobe was told to either kill the boy or stay away from him for he had the Kyuubi sealed within him. The Uchiha have a history with Kyuubi. She is the progenitor of our bloodline from our Hyuuga ancestors." Ayane covered her mouth as she felt she had spoken too freely.

"That was what we guessed in the Senju clan. Please continue." Tsunade prodded.

Ayane nodded. "Itachi told me before I left on the mission that I was captured on, that he loved me. The council had asked for my team to go to the rice country to investigate some missing people for the Daimyo there." Ayane's eyes both showed betrayal and admiration as she sighed.

"So Orochimaru captured you and then put you in a tank to mature. He apparently wanted you for breeding purposes. Oh and you can find out for yourself if Naruto-kun is as good as Itachi told you. Oh and thank you for filling in some of the holes in the reports I have. I am guessing that Itachi agreed when he found out that the Fugaku had said that you're missing was not reason enough to mount a search operation. The council used that against him so that he would kill the clan." Tsunade's smile softened as she looked at Ayane. "You must understand that he was made a traitor when he didn't kill his brother Sasuke. That boy is a thorn in so many people's sides it is ridiculous. Now please get some rest, I will be down the hall checking on my cousin Naruto-kun. Please allow his sister, Naruko-chan, to help you with meeting him. He has a problem with the Uchiha to some extent and would love to see someone who did not hate him or want to kill him. Also our little discussion is to be kept in the strictest confidence until I am ready to reveal it to all."

Ayane nodded as she laid her head back on the pillow and fell asleep.

Tsunade entered Haku's room to find Naruko asleep on Haku's bed nuzzled up to his right side with his arm wrapped around her, both sleeping contently. 'Guess everyone is somewhat happy. I wonder where Hana went off too.' Tsunade thought as she moved between the rooms and checked on the patients. She came upon Naruto's room where Hinata's clothes were on the floor along with Naruto's clothes. She did a quick inventory and found that their underwear was missing from the cluttered clothing that lay strewn around the room. 'Guess they are getting along just fine. Just as long as they have some clothes on it should be fine and Hiashi won't kill him. Guess this is so that Anko doesn't bother them. Naruto-kun still has to ask for Hinata's hand first, though I think he won't say no, even though Hinata basically proposed to him. I think I will send a messenger to Hiashi.'

Tsunade found Hana in the mess hall feeding her dogs. She turned to greet Tsunade with a wave. "I am guessing that Naruto-kun is going to turn the heirs of Konoha down on our marriage proposals." Hana commented more than asked.

Tsunade chuckled and then sat down beside Hana. "I am not so sure about that, one heir might get him at least."

Hana sighed and then laughed hard. "Yeah like any of us had a chance with him to begin with. She's a lucky girl."

"Yes, and no, she never was mean to him and loved him from the start. All that along with timing gave her to him heart and soul. So why did the clans think that Naruto would marry them?" Tsunade questioned.

"Well mom guessed that the council would attempt to bind Sasuke-teme to the village by using the Clan Restoration Act and marry him off to the clans with daughters. We talked to those heads and they agreed they would rather have the pariah as a son-in-law that was loyal rather than one from a known family of traitors. Better a loyal pup from an unknown bitch than one that had good breeding but has a habit of biting the hands that feed it." Hana commented.

"I see what you mean. With my adoption of Naruto into the Senju, Sasuke will be up against the ringer." Tsunade stated with a distant look and a smirk.

"Ha, the council is plotting to make Sasuke-teme into a breeding factory. I figure they wanted him to sleep with all of us to see if he could produce some variants of the Sharingan. Loyal with the Inuzuka, Byakugan hybrid with Lady Hinata, mind walkers with Ino-chan, and genjutsu experts with Yakumo-chan. I will not have it, even if Naruto-kun turns us down I am willing to join your little group and bring the others here. That is if you will have us." Hana said with a pleading look in her eyes.

Tsunade looked at Hana and began to contemplate what was going on, the near desertion of Konoha's clans from the village, one small group at a time. Tsunade shook off her weariness at the possibility that Konoha might fall and the destruction it might cause around the shinobi world. She then sighed and began to speak. "Listen Hana, I have no problem with you joining the group but I also want to have an ear in Konoha. We have a couple more days before Naruto's exile is set and we are out here permanently. I want you to take some documents to Jiraiya for me. When you return I want you to be my liaison to Konoha until things get really bad. If you need, you can have Tsume arrange a marriage within the clan for your protection. For those who can't be protected from the council I will write up a protection order for them. I also want several people for you to keep in contact with." Tsunade said as she led Hana to her makeshift office.

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A yell came ringing throughout Naruto's room. "Hey kid wake up!"

Naruto woke with a start and pulled the sheets with him. He saw an orange and black toad sitting on the sheets before him. "Hey kid, get lucky?" Naruto looked confused by the question Gamakichi looked disappointed for a second then smiled broadly. "What happened to the pink haired banshee? I thought she was your girlfriend." Gamakichi said as he put his left pinky up in the air.

Naruto groggily looked around and replied to Gamakichi. "Hey Gamakichi, what are you doing here?" Naruto noticed he was missing clothing and that Hinata was only in her underwear and bra. He quickly pulled the covers back over Hinata and himself, he did notice he was wearing his boxers and let out a sigh of relief. Naruto's face then wore a look of surprise. "What do you mean by saying that the pink haired banshee was my girlfriend?"

"Well you seemed to like her so much." Gamakichi responded with a smile as if he knew something.

"Not any more, that witch beat me while I was in the hospital." Naruto recounted and then smiled a big grin while looking at the sleeping Hinata. "I like Hinata-chan better. She loves me and I think I love her too."

Gamakichi nodded and smiled. "Glad to hear that kid. I got a message from pops."

Naruto laid back and Hinata snuggled onto his chest and smiled in her sleep. "Okay what does the old toad want? And I also have a question for him too."

"Well the teme demanded to be trained by ero-sennin, I do like that title, I'm glad you came up with it. But back to the message, pops says that you and Jiraiya are now the only contract holders of the toad summoning contract and it is to become a family contract for the both of you. So what is your question?" Gamakichi inquired.

"I want to know if I can sign other summoning contracts with some of the other summons? Tsunade-obasan wants me to sign the Slug contract but wanted me to check with your dad first." Naruto stated.

"Will do." Gamakichi responded and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto, Hinata, Naruko, and Haku spent the next few days reading about anatomy, Naruto and Naruko had the hardest times as their learning had been hindered by the teachers at the academy. This caused Hana, Shizune, Haku, and especially Hinata and Tsunade to become very angry at the instructors at the academy. Naruko and Hinata worked on chakra control as Naruto and Haku healed.

The other two girls woke up and began to explore the first room they came upon was Naruto's and seemed to want to stay by his side. Naruto was a little bit disturbed by all the attention he seemed to be getting from the females of the human species. He did make an effort to get to know them though. The youngest was named Hiuo, and found that she could tease Naruto about his name and he would tease her about her name. Hiuo of course means dried fish, and one of the meanings of Naruto name was fish cakes. The other girl who would just watch the ten year old and the thirteen year old both act like they were eight was named Kimera. She mostly kept to herself but stayed close to Naruto for some unknown reason.

Tsunade suggested that Naruto accepted them as they were so they could be at ease around him. He had a way with people and Tsunade could not explain it. By the end of the week Naruto was nearly at one-hundred percent and ready to train. Tsunade suggested a mission. Tsunade took Naruto, Naruko and Hinata as a team to go and check on a missing caravan from the Land of Honey.

The mission went wrong from the start. The team got stuck in what appeared to be a haunted castle, Naruto freaked out on several occasion only to actually figure out that the 'castle' was actually a summons. Using Hinata's Byakugan they located the summoning scroll and made their way up to the scroll. Naruko signed the scroll as Naruto opened a hole for the team to escape. Naruko politely excused the summons. The team was then thanked by the caravan and they would send payment to Wave when they returned home for saving them.

The team returned only to find Neji waiting for them at the entrance of the bunker. He informed them that Anko was now declared an independent nin as were Naruto, Hinata, Shizune, Tsunade and the ANBU team. He also informed them that Tsunade had been replaced by Jiraiya as Hokage, much to his annoyance. Tsunade had the group seal up the bunker and then everybody headed to Wave. Thanks to a couple of shadow clones from Naruko Naruto's chakra control skyrocketed. On the way to Wave Naruto was able to finally make a one handed Rasengan, it did take him three whole minutes to do it but he could finally do it. Hiuo and Kimera both began to look towards Naruto as a brother, while they saw Hinata and Naruko as sisters. Naruto finally had a family and was happy beyond his wildest dreams.

Naruto and the group saw the bridge and were awed by its size and engineering, the name of the bridge also caused several members to be even more impressed. Tsunade actually began to question the reports she had read on the mission. "Naruto-kun, I have a question about what happened here in wave. Why did they name the bridge after you and not Sasuke?"

An older man walked out from entrance arch of the bridge. "I can answer that question. Hello Naruto, how are you doing?"

Naruto's face lit up. "Hey old man, I am okay. How are Inari and Tsunami?"

Tazuna smiled and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "It is good to see you again Naruto, Inari and Tsunami are doing fine. I am glad you got out of that day-glow orange suit, it yell 'I am here, kill me now'." Tazuna teased.

Naruto frowned at the comment. "Hey, I like orange, but I understand what you mean."

Tazuna turned to Tsunade. "I am Tazuna the bridge builder. This young man is a hero." Tazuna tightened his grip on Naruto's shoulder to point out that he was the person he wanted to designate as a hero.

"How is he a hero?" Tsunade asked wanting to hear the real story.

"He brought hope back to this country and he also helped in defeating Gato. Without him we would not be here." Tazuna bragged.

Naruto blushed. "I didn't do that much I just helped Inari and Zabuza see the truth." Naruto face went downcast at the memory. "I am sorry Haku."

Haku smiled weakly as Naruko squeezed his hand for reassurance. "It is alright Naruto-kun. You saved my life and gave me more precious people to protect. For that I am eternally grateful."

Tazuna chuckled. "So why are you visiting kid?"

"The village abandoned him." Hinata replied sadly.

Tazuna stopped dead in his tracks. "How could a great village like Konoha abandon a hero like Naruto, here?"

Tsunade lowered her head in shame. "The village council declared that because he injured a fugitive comrade that he should either be executed or exiled from the village. I as Hokage could not stand and have my favorite cousin killed. So I wrote up the exile papers, asked a few friends to join and left the village to become independent shinobi. Would your village like to host our group?" Tsunade asked with a smirk.

Tazuna eyes widened and his jaw dropped, it took a couple minutes before he actually answered. "Would we? You bet we would. Inari would love to have his niisan back. There should be just enough room in the house for you all. So you will stay with us for the time being. Until you can find a place of your own and set up shop."

The walk to Tazuna's house was nice and quiet until Tazuna asked a simple question. "Why are you so quiet Naruto? You used to be a loud mouth." Tazuna smirked at the jab.

Naruto became livid. "What do you mean I was a loud mouth?" Naruto yelled his rebuttal.

Anko laughed at Naruto complaint. "I see what you mean." Anko retorted.

Naruto grumbled as everyone just either laughed or giggled. Hinata giggled but also wrapped her arms around Naruto and kissed him on the cheek. She then hugged his arm the rest of the way to Tazuna's house.

Tazuna opened the door only to yell. "Hey Tsunami, look what I found just hanging around the bridge."

Tsunami turned, stared and dropped the plate she had been washing. She looked Naruto in the eyes and began to cry. She ran up to Naruto and wrapped him into a loving hug. She shifted from a hug to holding his face in her hands and looked directly into his eyes. "Is that really you Naruto-kun?" Naruto nodded as she again wrapped him in a loving embrace and gave him a motherly kiss on the forehead. "We have missed you Naruto-kun, Inari will be so happy you came back to visit."

Naruto had returned the hug but held a sad look on his face. "It's not a visit. It is a little more permanent." Naruto whispered but still audible to all present.

Tsunami released the embrace enough to look him in his sad eyes. "What do you mean?"

"The village apparently turned on him." Tazuna answered.

"That is terrible." Tsunami stated as she again hugged Naruto. "So Naruto-kun, who are your friends?"

Tsunade came forward with a kind smile. "I am Tsunade Senju, Naruto's cousin, Hinata Hyuuga, his fiancé, Shizune, my first apprentice, Anko, special jonin, Naruko, Naruto's sister, Haku, soon to be brother-in-law." Naruko and Haku blushed at Tsunade's statement. Tsunade continued the introductions. "This is Hiuo, Kimera, Ayane, and an ANBU squad. I am the former Hokage of Konoha."

Tsunami looked confused but just then a child entered the room. "Whoa, who are all these people?" Suddenly Inari recognized one individual. "Naruto-niisan!" Inari yelled as he jumped at Naruto and wrapped his arms around him. He in childlike glee began to question Naruto in rapid succession without ever giving Naruto a chance to answer. "Is it really you? Why are you here? Did you bring me anything? Who's the girl? Is she your girlfriend? What happened to the pink bimbo? What about the emo-jerk? Can you teach me to be a cool ninja like you? How about Mr. Blindfold? How long are you staying? Is this a visit or have you come to live with us?"

Tsunami finally stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I am sure Naruto-kun will answer all your questions, in time. Give him a chance to answer at least, Inari." She then looked at Naruto. "So how long are you staying?"

Tsunade cleared her throat. "We are independent shinobi and were hoping to make Wave our residence. So we may be here a while, especially if we setup shop here. We can bring even more commerce to your lands. We basically have three teams right now."

Naruto looked at Tsunade like she was crazy. "What do you mean we have three teams?"

Tsunade took a deep breath. "Well, first we have the ANBU team. Second we have a team of one special jonin, two chunin and a genin. Third we have a reserve team consisting of a Sanin, her apprentice, an Ice user, and an Uchiha, two of which are on medical leave." Tsunade said with a wink.

Naruto blanched. "You mean our team leader and sensei is Anko?"

Tsunade and Anko smirked at Naruto's reaction. "Yes she is, your team leader and she can be switched out with anyone from the ANBU team, Shizune or I as needed. Your team otherwise consists of Naruko-chan, Hinata-chan, and yourself, do you have any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads. "Okay Naruto, Naruko, Haku, and Hinata time to hit the books while I help Tsunami with cleaning up." A round of 'ah…'s' were heard. "No complaints now get going." Shizune ordered as the four unsealed books from scrolls, sat at the table and began to read.

Tsunade took Tazuna aside. "How much would it be to buy some land and build a compound on it?"

Tazuna put his hand to his chin and thought about it. "How big a place are we talking about?"

"I will need at least a dozen bedrooms, a couple sealed labs, several showers and baths. That is all I can think of right now but I am sure there will be more. Oh yes I need a place to setup a clinic and medical ward of at least six beds."

Tazuna smiled. "A clinic would also be good for the village. You could charge for your services, and offer some free work too. If what I am thinking this through correct you will have several doctors in training soon. So the clinic could be a learning one. I suggest we build you a compound on the outskirts of town and clinic in town so you can get away from the hassles of work at home. How does that sound?"

Tsunade smiled broadly as Tazuna noticed her finally begin so show the signs of exhaustion. "That sounds great. Also we will need a good size area of land that we are more or less going to destroy on a regular basis."

"I know of a good spot for the building but it will take a month or two to build and get it ready. We can put you up until it is finished if you like." Tazuna offered.

Tsunade thought about it. "Only if you let us pay you rent for the rooms we use and help pay for the food. Deal?" Tsunade offered her hand.

"Deal. Also you should rest some tomorrow, take a load off, I can tell when someone it about to fall apart." Tazuna took her hand, shook it and then pulled her into a hug. "You are special to Naruto and thus are special to us. So we can't have you falling apart any time soon." Tazuna smiled gently to Tsunade who smiled appreciatively back.

----------

Ayane used her hand to mess up Naruto's hair as she walked by him at the table. "So you are the Naruto-kun, Itachi-kun had such high praise for you."

Naruto and Naruko both froze at the name of Itachi, was uttered. Ayane looked at Tsunade, she nodded her head. "It's alright Naruto-kun. I will not betray or hurt you." Naruto appeared to ease a little bit. "I also hear that my cousin, Sasuke-chan was not very nice to you. He will have to answer to me. As for Itachi-kun, next time we see him let me do the talking and you might be surprised."

Naruto and Naruko both giggled at Sasuke being referred to by the 'chan' suffix, but were surprised that Ayane wanted to talk to Itachi for them. "Are you sure you're an Uchiha?" Naruto questioned.

Ayane chuckled as she sat across from Naruto. "I am sure, but sometimes the clan questioned if I was. So did Sasuke-chan get his Sharingan to activate?"

Naruto saddened and looked away. Naruko spoke up for her brother. "Yes he now has all three tomoes, thanks to him working over Naruto-niisan. He nearly killed him, now he is basking in the glory while he is being exiled. Seems like the traitor is living the highlife to me."

Naruto's face lit up. "Not really, he isn't getting everything he wanted. From what I gathered from Gamakichi, Gamabunta and ero-sannin put him in his place in front of the council." Naruto happily replied. Hinata, Naruko, Haku and Anko knew this that the happy attitude was just an act on his part he was very angry that he had to leave Konoha and might not be able to achieve his dream of being Hokage.

"Good someone should put the teme in his place." Ayane stated bluntly, catching everyone by surprise.

-------

"I want the Kyuubi brat killed and his head on a pike. He denied me my new vessel. I need the Sharingan, and he denied me it. Send a force to find and destroy him. Now leave me Kabuto." Orochimaru demanded his left eye showed his malice, being that he was covered in bandages and only his left eye was visible.

"As you wish Orochimaru-sama, I will get right on that. There might be hope yet that Sasuke-kun comes anyways." Kabuto replied as Orochimaru's interests were piqued, he nodded for Kabuto to go on. "Well if what I heard is correct, the village is not giving him what he desires and he may just leave again to gain it. Shall I send an emissary to contact him so that he may still come to us?"

Orochimaru chuckled evilly. "Yes Kabuto, please make contact, we may yet be able to get him to come to us willingly, even though it will again be three years until I can take a host. Send them right away, and let him know that we still want him to come so that he can gain power from me."

Kabuto bowed as he turned to leave. "As you wish Orochimaru-sama, so it will be done."

--------

Ebisu was very annoyed, yes very annoyed. Fist he had been pulled from training Konohamaru and now he was forced to train Sasuke Uchiha, the council was becoming full of itself. The boy only wanted to just copy the jutsu, not learn anything about the jutsu. He just wanted to copy them. This just isn't done, to use a jutsu properly you must understand when and where to use a jutsu, its weaknesses and the like. He tried to explain this to Sasuke several times but he would not have it. At least Naruto would sit for an explanation and try to understand why he was doing what he was doing. Sure he had several jutsu he could teach Sasuke but they all had big glaring weaknesses. Shadow clone had a weakness of chakra and mental exhaustion, which was funny that it wasn't in Sasuke's arsenal, as Ebisu was sure that he had had several opportunities to copy it from Naruto as his teammate. Also his demands of only offensive jutsu and no defensive jutsu were preposterous.

"Sasuke, you need to learn when and where to use a jutsu, being totally offensive will kill you instantly. You must have a balanced approach." Ebisu warned.

"Just give me the jutsu and stop prattling. I need to get stronger to beat 'him'." Sasuke droned on.

Ebisu sighed. "I know you want to defeat your brother but he understood the concept of attack and defense, if you can't understand that, I can't teach you. Even Naruto understood that I had something to offer him when I worked with him before the chunin exams."

"Then give me your summons scroll." Sasuke demanded.

Ebisu pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose to calm down. "I don't have one and I wouldn't even let you if I did. They are creatures of trust and you apparently could not earn the trust of the great Gamabunta."

Sasuke growled. "If that is all you're going to teach me then we are done and you are relieved from teaching me." Sasuke replied and then whispered under his breath. "That damn toad doesn't know who he was dealing with." Sasuke turned and walked from the training field with his ANBU escort.

----------

Naruto was walking to his room when he heard soft crying. He opened the door to Tsunade, Shizune and Anko's room. Tsunade was slumped over on her desk crying. She then noticed a hand touch her shoulder. She looked up and saw Naruto. She immediately embraced him in a hug. "I am so sorry Naruto-kun. I couldn't protect you and I had to make a choice between you and the village. I had to choose you."

Naruto not knowing what to do just wrapped his arms around Tsunade and gently patted her on the back. "Thank you." was all he could muster as a reply.

About twenty minutes later Tsunade had fallen asleep as Naruto had shifted her to her futon in a sleepy stupor.

"Good night aunt Tsunade." Naruto said quietly as he left the room only to find most everyone standing in the hall. Each of the females gave Naruto a hug and left to their rooms in turn. Next to last was Ayane who kissed him gently on the forehead. "You are sweet, don't ever change Naruto-kun." Naruto blushed as Hinata took his hand and lead him to their room that they shared with Hiuo.

Hiuo smiled warmly from her futon to Naruto. "Naruto-niisan is good." She then laid her head down and went quickly to sleep.

"You did a good thing for Tsunade-sama, Naruto-kun." Hinata stated as she kissed him gently on the lips. Now let's get ready for bed as we have a long day tomorrow as Naruko has to create a shadow clone and has to help you assimilate the information. You both need to figure out how to filter the information so that your personalities do not merge or you get information you do not want." Hinata stated as she finished getting ready for bed. Naruto nodded as he also finished getting ready for bed. The laid down on the same futon and quickly fell asleep.

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A/N: I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for all the reviews and I am sorry it took so long to get this chapter out.

Chm01: Naru/Hina… I am working on a couple Naru/Harem fics but one in particular right now and do not have a name for it.

Graity Wizard: Naruto is more disturbed by it than Hinata, she is happy to have her Naruto-kun.

Alone shadow dream: Ah I will deal with the shared memories next chapter as there will be come compromising things that Naruto and Naruko will see and not really want to remember. I agree the relationship moved fast but it had too in many ways.

Leaf Ranger: I am not ready to have anyone else have foxy features just yet but I am sure that Jonque will add some more on his next chapter. Naruto will have close relationships with all the girls but only end up with Hinata. And yes the Kurama girl is the genjutsu girl.

Chojomeka: Thanks for the support with the hard line critics… or flamers… if you want to even acknowledge them. A few have some good points but need to learn how to better express them so they are not flames but are actual critiques. Again thanks for the support.


	7. Chapter 7 Trouble in Wave

Chapter 7 –

The next day was bright and sunny. Naruko and Hinata went and changed into their outfits, as Naruto also changed. Tsunade interrupted everyone getting ready as she called out to the group. "Okay everyone! We need to get everyone checked out for duty, as we will have some duty after we get the new house established. Now I want the males to line up and come into this room for Shizune to examine them. This is a full examination so when you enter the room you are too fully and I mean fully disrobe and lay down on the table to be examined. Shizune and I will conduct this examination. This will happen after injuries on missions or once every few months. Now after the apprentices are trained you will have to be examined by the opposite sex to become accustomed to this as Shizune and I will be quite tired after this. Sorry, ladies, if you feel uncomfortable with this but it needs to happen. I assure you that Naruto-kun and Haku-kun will not do anything that isn't clinically necessary." Tsunade said, accentuatin her meaning by cracking her knuckles causing both males to swallow loudly and nodded their acknowledgement to the threat.

Naruto and Haku were led into a room with Shizune. Shizune pointed to a chair, and then to Haku, who then took a tablet from Shizune. She then nodded to Naruto who looked confused. "Naruto-kun, you need to disrobe now," she said. Naruto nodded but was slow to comply. Shizune then teased, "Would you prefer that I bring all the females in here to disrobe you, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shook his head as images of Anko using a kunai danced through his head. He quickly disrobed. Shizune looked him over then pulled out a tape measure and began to measure his height, his chest size and most all of his other measurements. Haku jotted the numbers down as she called them off. "Okay lay down. Face up if you like or face down it does not matter to me," she said.

"Why doesn't it matter to you?" Naruto asked.

Shizune sighed and sat next to Naruto. "Because Naruto-kun, when we are in here I am your doctor not a woman gawking at a male. So now, both of you understand that you need to learn detachment when you do these examinations. I couldn't do my job if I wanted to gawk at all the guys I've seen. Also knowing what you look like in your birthday suit doesn't let me know what you are like inside and that is what counts, not the physical measurements, those are just the icing on the cake so to speak. Now lay down and we will begin the diagnostic," she ordered. Shizune did several hand signs as Naruto watched, and Shizune then moved her hand over Naruto. It felt different than the usual diagnostic and she moved more slowly the she had before. She then said, "Interesting, Haku, add this to the notes. There is no scaring from previous injuries other than the ones from the fight with Sasuke Uchiha. Of note, Naruto has scaring on his chest and also his ribcage. His lung also has minor scaring where the new one and the old one are connected. There also appears to be scaring near the base of the neck between the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae."

"Any other notes to report, Shizune-san?" Haku asked.

Shizune continued to examine Naruto until she hovered over his crotch, Naruto began to shift uneasily as she seemed to be concentrating. "Naruto-kun, sit still I will be done in minute," she ordered. Naruto settled down, but felt uneasy as her hand hovered over him. Her hand closed and the green chakra dissipated. She happily declared, "Naruto is fully viable and should show no problem with having children. Okay Naruto-kun your turn to take the notes for, Haku-kun. Also Haku put down that he is still suffering from being malnourished and we should address this issue as soon as possible," Shizune ordered.

Naruto gave her a funny look, then sat up and put his shorts back on as Haku disrobed. Naruto took the chair that Haku was in, took the notebook, and began to write down the information that Shizune told him too. Of note Haku still has only one lung but that should be rebuilt fully in a month or two, and Shizune also proclaimed Haku also viable for producing children. The other male exams went quietly without incident. Tsunade entered and looked at the boys only in their boxers and smiled.

"So, you figured you would put the patients at ease? Well get dressed. We still have two more to finish with and the girls will be joining us for these examinations," Tsunade said. Naruto and Haku quickly put on their clothes, and readied themselves for the next two examinations.

"Ready Shizune? You or me first?" Tsunade inquired as Shizune opened her robe, much to the embarrassment of the boys. Tsunade frowned and said, "Stop it, boys, or I will have the girls do a follow up examination of you right now. First, you will not look at her as a female, but as a patient. Second, you will honor her by not getting embarrassed by seeing her naked. The patient will be nervous enough without you showing that you don't have the ability to put a perverted thought aside to deal with the examination. Also, I am next, and I don't want to hear any complaints when I drop the genjutsu for the exam." Naruto swallowed loudly.

Shizune disrobed as the boys steeled themselves to see a woman naked for nearly the first time. Shizune stood and waited for Tsunade to start the exam, as Naruto took the notebook to take down the notes on the exam. Both Haku and Naruto had that task, as it would give them a distraction from watching Tsunade measure Shizune and then moving her hand over her body. It was over with quickly enough, with the report that Shizune was also still able to bear children. Tsunade's exam took a little longer than expected, as it took a little bit for Naruto to adjust to both visages of a naked Tsunade, with and without her genjutsu. Tsunade explained that the reason for putting them in the uncomfortable situation was so that they would not freeze up if they had to deliver a baby, do surgery, or do an exam if one of the girls were not available. And it was possible that could happen, as there were her only apprentices. Tsunade and Shizune volunteered themselves first to make it easier for the others to trust the boys, as they would eventually be either nurses or doctors in their own right. Of surprising note, was that Tsunade could also bear children, despite being over fifty.

After the examinations were complete, Naruto was fighting to not say anything for fear of getting hit by Tsunade, while attractive for her age even without her genjutsu she still did not excite the young men, being thirteen and fourteen respectively. Breakfast was served as the group went downstairs.

----------

Several eyes watched the house near the water, each aware of the others' presence. Four groups sat and watched for several hours until the occupants began to leave the building, only to shift to a guard stance. Tsunade was not pleased, as it appeared that they were nearly surrounded but only from the shore and they had three civilians in the house. "Come out now and show yourselves. I know there are at least four groups of you," Tsunade ordered.

A group of Rock shinobi walked out of the forest first near the trail to the house. A group of Cloud shinobi including a blonde woman and a dark skinned man with a large number of swords came out of the forest a little ways away from the Rock shinobi. A group of Mist shinobi exited on the other side of the Rock shinobi. The Rock and Cloud shinobi groups both bowed to Tsunade and the group as they exited the forest. The Mist shinobi looked on at Hinata with disgust in their eyes, as Naruto took a position in front of her. Naruto growled at the Mist shinobi, they were taken aback by this reaction. The fourth group did not appear, but several kunai suddenly went straight at Naruto. All were blocked by senbon, shuriken or kunai thrown from behind him. Naruto looked at those behind him as each appeared ready to fight and he even saw Anko liking her lips.

"You okay gaki?" Anko asked with actual concern in her voice, as Naruto nodded and turned back towards the guests and the unknown assailants.

Suddenly sand erupted from that section of forest, only to show four figures being pushed out of the forest by the sand. "Let us go you demon!" One of the masked figures yelled back into the sand.

"I think not. I need only your heads for identification so this is goodbye for attacking my friend. Sand burial!" Gaara appeared on a tree limb as he closed his hand and crushed the four from the forest.

"Hey blonde, long time no see!" Temari teased, as she appeared next to her brother.

"Please, Gaara sensei, slow down so we can keep up," A brown haired girl stated as she jumped on the branch next to Gaara panting heavily. Moments later another girl appeared next to Temari also panting.

"Looks like we need to work on your stamina girls," Temari commented to the two Sand kunoichi who just nodded in agreement.

Both the Cloud and the Rock contingent began to leak demonic killing intent. The girls standing next to Gaara and Temari both collapsed and had to be held up right. Tsunade knew the situation was going downhill and fast. "So Gaara and Temari of the Desert, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" Tsunade asked, hoping that she could refocus attention away from the Ichibi jinchuuriki.

"The council of Suna is most displeased with the exile of Naruto Uzumaki, and thus has proposed a marriage so that he could be protected by Suna," Gaara stated in a monotone voice.

Naruto looked up at his friend confused. "Marriage, to whom?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.

Temari smirked at the question. "Me of course silly! It isn't like there would be many that Gaara-kun here would agree for me to be married to!" she admitted, stating the obvious.

Naruto gently grabbed Hinata's hand. "I'm sorry, Temari-chan, but I am spoken for, but thanks for the offer," he replied politely.

Temari just chuckled and smiled at Naruto. "You don't know what you're going to miss!" she said as she laughed.

Naruto shook his head. "I'm sorry Temari-chan but I barely know what I'm doing with one who I have ignored for years. What would I do with another?" he asked.

Nearly everyone face faulted except for Temari, who jumped down next to Naruto, in between both him and Hinata and whispered, "You could always share." Both Naruto and Hinata turned beet red.

"You could just marry us both, and I could just live the life of luxury and not have to worry about being a real wife," Temari added, which caused both to turn even brighter red. Temari chuckled to herself at how easy it was to tease these two. She decided to put on the finishing touch, and added, "I would only be in your bed for one night, and after that, if I had a kid so be it. If not you would never have to return to my bed again. If you were daring, we could have a threesome with your girlfriend too. It might make for an interesting night."

Naruto and Hinata finally hit the edge with that statement and passed out. Temari smiled as she rubbed her hands in satisfaction, and giggled, "That was too easy."

Shizune turned the attention away from fainting pair. "These were from Konoha, I believe they were Root agents, not actual ANBU, Tsunade-sama," Shizune declared as she examined the four dead bodies.

Tsunade nodded her acknowledgement. "We will take into consideration the marriage proposal from Suna. So what do Mist, Rock, and Cloud want?" Tsunade asked.

One of the Mist shinobi stepped forward with a sneer on his face. "Tsunade of the Sannin, we wish to offer you a place in our village for all of your people except for those with bloodlines," The man said, he then continued to glare at Hinata. Tsunade caused everyone to jump when she burst out laughing. The startled Mist nin asked, "What did I say that is so funny?"

"I am of a family of blood line holders. You ask me to join your village, but don't look to see if I have one myself. I possess one, but it is dormant. So if I were to have any children, you would kill them, so I decline your offer," Tsunade stated as she continued to laugh.

"You would mock me a jounin bearing an offer from the Mizukage, and telling me of a preposterous idea of an old hag like you having children?" The man asked, he then added, "Don't make me…."

The man found himself flying at the sand that had killed the Konoha Root agents and Tsunade standing in his spot.

Tsunade turned to Gaara. "Gaara, if you'll do the honors?" she asked, as she smiled sadistically.

The sand opened up as the man entered a newly formed hole in it. "Gladly. 'Sand Burial!'" Gaara proclaimed as the sand flattened, and a sickening crunch was heard.

Temari sat and watched as she placed both Naruto's and Hinata's heads on her lap with the help of Anko. Tsunade turned to the remaining Mist shinobi. "Any more of you wish to insult me?" she asked threateningly. All three shook their heads. Annoyed at their wasting her time, she ordered, "Then get out of my sight." Tsunade swept her hand as she told them to leave.

She turned to the Rock shinobi. "So what does our former greatest enemy want with me?"

A red haired man stood and walked towards Tsunade and then bowed. "Tsunade of the Senju, former Godaime Hokage of Konoha, Sannin named so by Hanzou of Ame. We of Iwa ask that you take us on as vassals for a while so that we can prove our village is worth you coming to establishing a clan with us. If at any time you wish us gone we will leave you and your part in peace. I am Roushi, retired jounin and jinchuuriki of Iwa," the man explained.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "We can discuss this later, but for the moment you are welcome as long as you guarantee the safety of my blonde friends over there," Tsunade said, as she pointed at Naruto and Naruko.

"You have my word as a shinobi that they are safe with my men and I," Roushi promised as he bowed again.

Two from Kumo stepped forward, the blonde female and the dark skinned man with swords, but they seemed to be bickering. "Kirabi, do not insult her with your lyrics. Your brother, the Raikage, told me to do the talking as you seem to keep on getting people mad at you," the woman argued.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the approaching pair, and asked, "So what is it that Cloud wants?"

Naruto and Hinata began to stir. Both grabbed Temari's knee and noticed they were on a black pillow, her battle kimono to be exact. "So you two sleepy heads decide if you want a threesome?" Temari teased.

Yugito and Kirabi both bowed before Tsunade. "Honorable Tsunade Senju-sama. We of Cloud wish to extend an invitation to Kumo where we guarantee the protection of all your party. The Raikage wishes to speak with you regarding you and your reason for leaving Konoha. You have as long as you like to decide on accepting this offer, as both Kirabi and I, Yugito Nii, have been told to stay by your side no matter what you decide. The other two of our team are going to head back with you immediate decision," the woman, now known as Yugito, said, still not raising her head.

'Great now I have added ten mouths to feed including four more jinchuuriki. The Kage must think that I'm really important. I know I would be good leverage politically against Konoha, but I wouldn't want to be that much of a burden to them no matter how much it has cost me. No, I'm here for Naruto-kun, and I will do what is right for him and Hinata-chan,' Tsunade thought to herself, and then she said, "I will have to take some time to figure out what I want to do. As for now we need to make sure that all parties that are going to stay here can get along. First off, Iwa shinobi, can all of you get along with those from the village that produced the 'Yellow Flash'?"

Roushi nodded, as did another but a third seemed conflicted and the fourth shook his head. Tsunade pointed at the two. "I don't need anyone who can't control themselves, so you two can head back to Iwa," she ordered.

Roushi stood and turned, he pointed at the two and nodded, both left the scene quickly. "It is as you wish, Tsunade-sama," Roushi turned back around and returned to the bowing position.

"You of Kumo," Tsunade said, bringing the attention of the Cloud shinobi to her. She pointed at Hinata, and explained, "That girl, Hinata is of the Hyuuga line and is the betrothed to my cousin Naruto Senju Uzumaki. If any of you can't keep from thinking of brining her to your village to use her as a breeding factory for Kekkei Genkai, you can just leave now. She is protected by my cousin, and our entire group. I would also advise not crossing Naruto, as Gaara here can agree with me that he would cross the planet to avenge anything ill that happened to her." Tsunade turned to Gaara who just nodded in agreement.

Temari spoke at that point. "I also name her as my sister, Hinata of the Desert. The council of Suna has given us considerable leeway to name whatever you want to have you allied with our village, if not become part of it," Temari proclaimed, she then continued, "The idea for the marriage was both the council's and mine. So whether he accepts or not, both of them are under the protection of Suna."

Temari's comment caused Tsunade to smile, as she knew that the Suna contingent could be trusted.

Kirabi stood up and smiled. "She is free and it is alright by me," he replied, his smile turning into a grin similar to Naruto's, though the sunglasses gave him it a different look.

Yugito scowled. "I told you to zip it," she said, slightly annoyed.

"Yo toots, I'm the one of us with eight so you don't have to get irate," Kirabi stated with a smile as most everyone groaned. He looked around, his shoulders slumped, and he said, "So everyone's a critic."

Yugito turned to the other two Kumo shinobi, and nodded as they left. "I have sent them with a message that you are still deciding what to do, Tsunade-sama," she explained.

Tsunade sighed. "How did the information get to the villages so quick? And how did you find me so quickly?" she asked, slightly confused.

"I know Jiraiya-sama sent a message to Suna as soon as you left, along with the possible locations of where you might go," Temari answered.

Roushi stood and smiled. "Iwa has spies in Konoha and they reported your departure, the Tsuchikage figured you would head this direction so we hurried and followed the Root idiots," Roushi answered while pointing at the dead Root agents.

Yugito smirked. "The Raikage has spies, but also knows that the Mizukage is in league with Akatsuki. So we followed them. We knew they would screw up and try to insult you, as a holder of a bloodline. We were not informed that you would be expecting a child though. Congratulations," she said, getting that twinkle in her eye that all women get upon hearing about pregnancy.

Tsunade laughed, as did most of the former Konoha shinobi. "It will be a couple years before I will be expecting but thank you for your support in that area," Tsunade thanked Yugito.

Shizune blushed, as she knew she was going to be the surrogate mother for Tsunade's child. "I think we have a few too many here for the house, and the village doesn't have an inn just yet. How are we going to house them?" she asked nervously.

Tazuna thought for a minute. "Well it isn't the rainy season, and the weather is quite nice right now, so if they want to camp on the beach I have no problem with that, as the house is near maximum capacity for people," he said.

Tsunade looked around as everyone nodded to this arrangement. "We can house you when we get the compound house built," Tsunade stated.

"I can help with making the foundation if you like," Roushi stated, as everyone looked at him like he was crazy. "What? I have fire and earth affinity and thus I can use and make magma. That, when cooled should make a good foundation."

"And kill all the plants in the area," Anko commented with a snicker.

"What was that girl?" Roushi queried.

Anko snickered as she put her fists on her hips. "What, are you hard of hearing?" she asked.

Roushi shook his head, as he knew this was going to be interesting. "No but your outfit draws away the attention from your statements," Roushi stated with a smirk.

Tsunade shook her head. "Enough. We all need to get along, so no more quibbling," she ordered.

Roushi laughed at this. "I thought she and I were just getting to know each other," he chuckled.

Tsunade laughed. "So you two were engaged in foreplay in front of all of us?" she asked. Both Roushi and Anko blushed at the comment. Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose, and said to the group, "Okay, enough playing around, set up camp now. Tazuna, I need you to get to work on that project we talked about. I need the dorms and kitchen built first."

Temari brushed both Naruto's and Hinata's hair as they both lay on her lap. "We could have so much fun you two," Temari said with a smirk, as both Naruto and Hinata blushed.

Tsunade walked over, knelt down, and suggested, "You could always take the route I'm taking."

Temari perked up at this comment. "I'm in luck! You're into older women!" she exclaimed.

Tsunade giggled as Naruto blushed. "No, Naruto-kun here agreed to allow me to use artificial insemination to have a couple children. You could do that too so that others would think that you're married," she offered.

Temari huffed. "I wanted to do it at least once. I don't want to be a virgin when I have children," she pouted.

Hinata reached out and touched Naruto's hand. "It would be up to Naruto-kun if that were to happen, but we can discuss it when we're older. I have first dibs though," Hinata stated as Naruto nodded.

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(Back in Konoha)

Jiraiya was getting annoyed by the council, as they kept on trying to get 'Tsunade' to rescind the jail sentence for Sasuke, and also have her force Jiraiya to train Sasuke. Jiraiya kept up the façade that 'Tsunade' was still in the village. 'Impersonating her for so long is not easy. I wonder if they will figure it out. I also have to thank the gaki for the idea of using 'Shadow clones' for my research. They get caught, but I still get the information,' Jiraiya thought to himself as he, in the form of Tsunade developed a lecherous grin.

The door opened with a clone of Shizune, another of his clones. "Tsunade-sama, you have guests," Shizune stated as she bowed and let the elders pass with a thinly veiled scowl.

Jiraiya also scowled as they entered. "To what do I owe this honor?" Jiraiya asked as if not knowing what the subject would be.

"We are here to discuss the clans not accepting the betrothals. We want you to 'help' matters along, Tsunade-hime," Homura stated kindly.

Jiraiya scowled even worse, making Tsunade's features become very angry, in actuality he was enjoying this game of political twists and turns. "No," Jiraiya simply stated.

"What do you mean by 'no'?" Koharu asked, as if confused.

"No, I will not help," Jiraiya stated.

"Also why have you not declared your apprentice a missing-nin? She is not in the village," Homura inquired.

"She is running a mission for me. She is accompanying Naruto to his first destination along with a couple others. If you have a problem with that, then take it up with Hiashi. Now I'm busy, so get out of my office." Jiraiya ordered.

"Why is she with the demon?" Danzou asked.

Jiraiya scowled at this comment. "You would insult a member of my clan? As for Hinata, that is between her and I. Naruto needed medical attention for the next few weeks and she is there as his 'nurse' shall we say. Now, get out!" Jiraiya yelled, as the ANBU left the corners and showed themselves to the elders, causing Jiraiya to grin, "Or do I have to have you thrown out?" Jiraiya asked, he then added, "Please say, 'yes', I'm sure it would make Naruto happy to have some retribution."

The elders looked offended but left the room quickly. Not a half an hour later, Hiashi was in the office complaining about the elders. "Do you know that they had the audacity to say that if Hinata wasn't available then I should allow Hanabi to wed Sasuke? They also asked me where Hinata-chan was, so I told them she was on a mission for you. They are also pressing to have the Uchiha released early from prison," Hiashi stated.

"I know. I had council member Haruno and her daughter in the office asking for a conjugal visit for her daughter. I turned it down immediately. My biggest problem right now is trying to keep up with Tsunade's schedule at the hospital. I'm no medic and playing the part of two medics is really getting hard," Jiraiya admitted. A grin appeared on his face, and he suggested, "I think it is about time for Tsunade to disappear."

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A/N: This chapter is more of a filler than most and just had some updates and had problems with getting my other stories updated, but truth be told I had writer's block for this chapter. Too many asking for harem, for the last time no harem yet in this story, even if it would fit fine with the story in several ways. Yes Tsunade and Naruto will have a child, but they will not have sex. You figure it out as I have explained it before.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Owning Naruto would be fun, but alas it is a no go...

Chapter 8 – Island life…

Over the next month Haku was healed to nearly normal, his lung and chakra system were rebuilt. Temari had begun sleeping in the same room and on the same futons, as Naruto and Hinata. She and Hinata would switch off cuddling with Naruto each night. While Naruto had kissed Hinata he had yet to kiss Temari. Roushi and Anko kept on being caught in compromising positions, about once a week, with either Roushi's hand up her skirt or her hand down his pants, or both. The group was betting that they had either already slept with each other or would soon. Anko and Roushi were keeping quiet either way.

Naruto and Naruko kept running into a name problem with both of their names being so similar that sometimes each would answer for the other. Worse yet, they had not worked out a solution for clone memories. While Naruto liked Haku, he did not care for the memories of Naruko kissing him, even if it brought up a pleasant feeling. Naruko was in a similar boat, while she liked Hinata, she had never wanted to kiss her so when the stray memory of kissing Hinata came up she had the suppress the urge to kiss the girl by either immediately taking Haku's lips or remembering Haku's physical exam.

Gaara and Temari continued to train the two girls who had accompanied them. Temari eventually had to have a talk with Matsuri about her feeling towards Gaara, this ended with a fight between the two females about trying to give jinchuuriki love. Matsuri finally at the end of the month came before Gaara and admitted that she was in love with him. Gaara not knowing what to do asked Naruto and Haku what he should do. Both of them told him to accept her feelings and see where this would go. They also advised that he also talk with her about his feelings or lack thereof, whatever they may be, Naruto also advised that he talk about his early childhood, so she would have a frame of reference for his feeling or lack thereof. From that point on Matsuri and Gaara became inseparable.

Tsunade also received a message from Jiraiya that he was going to have a clone of her leave the village in a couple weeks, even after the village has just started to chisel her face on to the mountain. Tsunade smirked at this, as he had already secured the position of Hokage for when she stepped down so that the council wouldn't do something rash like have Sasuke elected Hokage, or something to that effect. Jiraiya in the letter also promised a showy departure for her from the village. Her big worry was about her supposed leaving and the council trying to muck things up.

Naruto's control increased by leaps and bounds because of Naruko's clones. Naruto, Naruko, and Haku finally agreed to change Naruko's name to Akemi, and thus they would stop the confusion with Naruto. Medical training also continued, as Naruto now had enough control to do a poor version of the chakra scalpel. Along with the added control came more proficiency with the Rasengan, and other jutsu. Tsunade and Shizune taught the four new jutsu, as they continued to excel on their studies.

Anko and Roushi disappeared for a couple of days on to a secluded island. When they came back they were tight lipped and would not talk about their absence. Although Anko would always seem to leer at Roushi and blush profusely, as no one could tell if Roushi was blushing because of his facial markings.

Construction began with the ninja compound during this time period and Tazuna had to actually import workers to do all the construction, this in itself caused more construction to happen, as they also needed housing. The village nearly doubled in size in the time of a week.

Teams also did jobs around the village and away from the village, as there were the unfinished mission scrolls that they had taken from Konoha. Tsunade shifted the teams around, as the skills needed for each job differed. Teams varied, even on time there was an all jinchuuriki team of Roushi, Yugito, Naruto and Gaara, this team was able to capture a small group of high ranked missing nin.

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Sakura was angry, very angry, as she couldn't visit Sasuke and her mother kept on telling her it was Naruto's fault, so she blamed him for her troubles, like she usually did. The only thing was that she couldn't take her anger out on Naruto for the problems he had caused. Worse yet Ino and her were having more problems, as Ino stuck to the premise that it wasn't Naruto's fault, and that it actually was the fault of the village council.

(Flashback)…

Sakura sat back on the bench in front of the flower shop. "You know Ino, even with him not here, Naruto is still causing problems," she ranted.

Ino gasped at this. "What do you mean? He hasn't even been here for a while and you're blaming him for things that are going on around here?" she asked.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, my mother even said that Jiraiya-sama refused to train Sasuke-kun. Can you believe that?" she asked.

Ino shook her head. "You're being a fool, Sakura. Jiraiya-sama wouldn't train Sasuke, because he trained Naruto, and Sasuke nearly killed him," she explained.

"Oh, you're just being overzealous, Ino. Naruto wasn't hurt that bad, or Tsunade-sama would have gone with him to make sure he was alright," Sakura explained.

Ino just shook her head at the blind faith her friend seemed to have towards Sasuke. "Sakura, you know that Naruto heals faster than normal, right?" she asked, as Sakura nodded. "Well from what I heard, Sasuke hit Naruto several times with that Chidori attack. You know that it's an assassination jutsu. In other words, he meant to kill Naruto, not just hurt him and get away, he actually meant to kill him," she explained.

Sakura was stumped by the realization that Sasuke did know that jutsu and would actually use it on Naruto, 'sure he was annoying, but to actually try to kill him?' She thought to herself, she stammered an attempt to defend Sasuke, but at the moment she couldn't because of the fight on the roof a few days before their return, and just sat there with her mouth agape.

Ino put her hand on Sakura's shoulder, and then said, "Sasuke betrayed the village, and worse yet, he tried to kill a teammate. Naruto may be an idiot, but he is loyal. The council was up to something when they did what they did. They even tried to force Jiraiya to train Sasuke. I also heard that Sasuke tried to force Gamabunta to be his summons with his Sharingan. That is no way to treat a summons. Look think it over, and if you're still so hung up on Sasuke that you can't see the truth, then fine, you can have him. Me I'm looking for other fish and you can tell your mother that I have refused the marriage proposal with Sasuke, as my clan now opposes the Uchiha," she explained, as she got up and went back into the flower shop.

(End flashback)…

'Damn Ino-pig, why does she have to make so much sense? Is my mother pushing me into something wrong?' Sakura thought to herself. 'Have I really been such a bad teammate to ignore what might have happened to Naruto?' Sakura continued to ponder for the next hour, as she waited for Kakashi to show up.

-------

Hiashi wasn't a happy man, no, he wasn't. The village council had again voted to try to make Hinata a missing-nin, again they had failed. Jiraiya had forced the issue with having to pull rank on the shinobi members and forcing them to vote against this or face sanctions from the Hokage. Jiraiya looked very tired, as he was still in the form of Tsunade. "So what do you have planned for your retirement, Tsunade-sama?" Hiashi asked, knowing it was actually Jiraiya.

Hanabi looked up confused at Jiraiya, "You're retiring, Tsunade-sama?"

Jiraiya smiled warmly at the young Hyuuga, "Yes child, I'm retiring and going to let the pervert take over. I can't stand being away from the one person who brought meaning back to my life," he explained.

"Who is that, Tsunade-sama?" Hanabi asked, confused and wanting to know, as she had seemed to spend more time at the Hyuuga residence than at the Hokage mansion.

Jiraiya smiled warmly at Hanabi, and answered, "Why, Naruto Uzumaki, who else?"

"But they have just started construction of your face on the mountain. Why would you leave now?" She asked innocently.

Jiraiya chuckled at the question, but decided to answer, "Because of Naruto, I took up the mantle of Hokage, so that he could eventually take it, but with the way things are now…" he trailed off, putting his head on his hand and looking off into the distance. 'Boy, am I a good actor, or what?' he thought to himself.

Hiashi watched this conversation with mirth, and thought, 'he's such a ham, but it is believable, and that is what counts.'

----------

"Kabuto, how are the missions to find the Kyuubi-brat and to get my new vessel from Konoha, proceeding?" Orochimaru asked.

Kabuto smirked, and said, "The mission to get Sasuke-kun is going well, we should have him within six months and you can begin his training then. As for Naruto-kun… we're not sure where he is. We have sent agents all over, the ones to Wave have not reported, nor have the ones in Suna, Iwa, or Kumo. We did receive an interesting message from our spies in Kiri though."

Orochimaru smiled, and asked, "Oh, what do they say?"

"They say that Tsunade is in Wave, but we can't verify this in any way though," Kabuto replied.

Orochimaru began to laugh, and asked to no one in particular, "What are you up to, Tsunade-hime?"

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"No, Naruto, that isn't how you should do that attack!" Yugito yelled. "Who taught you how to fight?"

Naruto picked himself off the ground, and answered, "Well… I sort of trained myself, when the teachers taught me things, such as kata that wouldn't easily work together for me."

Yugito and Anko shook their heads, as Anko commented, "So the great Kakashi didn't help you with your taijutsu?" Naruto shook his head to her question. "Big surprise for the laziest guy in Konoha, did he teach you any jutsu?" she asked.

Naruto shook his head, as he ruffled Hiou's hair. She smiled at her niisan. "Hiou is as good as niisan," she sang out loud, as Naruto just shook his head and the jounin just laughed.

Kimera laughed and spoke quietly, "Naruto-niisan?"

Everyone turned and looked at her, Naruto smiled, and asked, "Yes, Kimera-chan?"

Kimera blushed, and asked, "Why do you not hate that village, for what they did to you? I know I hate Orochimaru for what he did to us."

Naruto sighed, as he then embraced the girl, and said, "What would it do if I hated them? Would it change their minds? How would it help me become a better person? I put up with the idiots because there are people there that I care about. Those are the people that make putting up with the heartache worth it in the end. The others can have their stupid opinions."

Kimera began to sob, and said, "Thank you Naruto-niisan."

"Anytime… Kimera-chan, anytime…" Naruto whispered, as he continued the embrace.

Yugito cocked her head and smiled. "You've got a special one there, too bad Konoha didn't realize what they had," she commented sadly.

Anko put her arm on Yugito's shoulder, and said, "That he is, that he is."

--------------

Akemi knew there had to be a way to block some of the memories from getting to Naruto, and others from him getting to her. She especially didn't want this afternoon's memories to get to Naruto, as he might injure Haku, and she didn't want that to happen. A make-out session had gone a little too far. While they had not had sex, they had come darn close. Luckily Haku had stopped them or there may have been an explanation she didn't want to give to either Tsunade or Naruto.

Best she could figure is that she had gone into heat, but wanted to talk to Hana to make sure. The funny part was that Haku would need a new outfit, as she had literally shredded it in a passion induced haze. She had not hurt Haku, just his clothes. She understood the urges, but not the force behind them. When she came back to her senses, she had turned bright red, but the more embarrassing part was seeing Haku naked and her hovering over him in the same state. She decided that they should have separate rooms for at least a few days until these urges passed. She just was worried that Naruto would be angry with her.

Hinata came into the room and noticed Akemi was in distress. "Akemi-chan, are you okay?"

Akemi immediately broke down and admitted to her transgression, "Okay, I did it I almost took Haku-kun. I felt the needed to have him, it was so overwhelming."

Hinata giggled and shook her head, and said, "Oh, is that all?"

Akemi was dumbfounded by the Hyuuga's lack of being offended. "Is that all? Is that all? It's enough!" She screamed. She then continued, "What if Naruto-kun found out, he would either hurt Haku-kun or me for doing that…" she admitted and then blushed profusely.

Hinata wrapped Akemi in a hug, and said, "I've been in a similar boat to you. I want Naruto-kun so bad, but I understand that we need to wait. Also with Temari-chan we have other things to consider. The day Anko-chan came, I nearly took Naruto-kun for fear that she might have him first," she admitted, as Akemi held her mouth open in shock. She continued, "Yes Akemi-chan, we have those urges about those we love and desire. If I may ask, how far or close did you get?"

Akemi blushed, and replied, "We… were both naked and I… Let's just say it was close. Haku-kun, decided that we weren't ready and hugged me until the urge lessened enough for us to get dressed. I just am worried that Naruto-kun will be mad with me."

Hinata giggled, and said, "Naruto-kun wouldn't be mad, maybe disappointed that you didn't wait, but he would never be mad at his little sister. He will be happy to know that Haku-kun took the responsibility for you. Truth be told, Naruto-kun is the one who keeps our relationship from going too far. He has a fear of being a father. He's worried that if he has children right now he couldn't be a good father to them. I would tend to disagree, but with all that we have learned from becoming apprentices to Tsunade-sama, I agree that we're not ready to be parents."

Akemi embraced Hinata, and said quietly, "Thank you Hinata-neesan. So how do I hide it from Naruto-kun, as he gets my memories from my shadow clones?"

Hinata thought for a minute, and then said, "How about you think more about what you want transferred and keep those thoughts you want to keep to yourself out of your mind. It might help."

Akemi thought for a moment and then made a hand sign, and whispered, "Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Hinata wondered why Akemi had a devilish grin on her face, but put it up to the Uzumaki prankster attitude, if only she knew.

-----------

Naruto was in the middle of a spar with Roushi when an image of Hinata stepping nude into a path came to his mind, his face went bright red, as Roushi kicked Naruto into a tree. Roushi shook his head, and said, "Naruto you need to concentrate, if you are to fight Akatsuki on an even playing field."

Naruto shook off the feeling of the impact and turned to Roushi and said, "Sorry, I think one of mine or Akemi's Shadow Clones are up to no good."

Roushi raised an eyebrow, and asked, "How so?"

Naruto turned beet red, wiped some blood from his nose, and shook his head, as he replied, "Nope, not going to explain!"

Naruto retook his stance and continued the spar.

Kirabi stepped forward and asked, "How well do you know your Bijuu, Naruto?"

Naruto stood and thought about the question, and then answered, "Well every time I've met him, he's been a jerk. I first met him when Ero-sennin threw me off a cliff and I summoned Gamabunta."

Tsunade grinded her teeth at hearing this, she knew Jiraiya was a little unusual in his training habits.

Kirabi and the other looked at Naruto in awe, and only could ask, "How exactly, were you treated?"

Naruto became unusually sheepish, as he said, "I was ignored or shunned most of my life. A few beatings here and there, but the Third took care of me!" he said happily.

Yugito took him by the shoulder and pulled him to the bench. "Naruto, Kirabi and I are the jinchuuriki of Kumo, his bijuu is only second to yours. He is the brother to the current Raikage," she said kindly. She then looked at Tsunade and asked, "So your Fourth sealed the Nine tails into a total stranger's child, a true orphan?"

Tsunade bit her nail, as she weighed the pros and cons of telling Naruto his heritage. She sighed, as she began to speak, "Naruto, there are a few things you need to know. Jiraiya and I were going to tell you when we thought you would be ready to hear this, but seeing as there doesn't appear to be a good time…" She took a deep breath, and asked, "How do you feel about the Fourth for sealing the Kyuubi in you, Naruto?"

Naruto thought hard and several emotions came to the surface. "First of all I admire him for being the best Hokage ever… but, I'm also angry at him for forcing me to have such a hard life. In a way I understand why they treated me the way they did, but in other ways, I still don't understand. I protect them from the Kyuubi. Most of all… why did he choose me? Weren't there other children he could have chosen?" he asked, as his eyes became very cold.

Tsunade sat down beside Naruto and began to rub his back. "He did worry about who he sealed the Kyuubi into, you're special in so many ways, I can't begin to explain," she said, as she hugged him, and he returned the hug.

"But why me?" he asked again.

"Naruto can you give me a physical description of the Fourth?" she asked, as she looked into his eyes.

Naruto nodded and answered, "He has bright spiky blonde hair, and blue eyes."

Tsunade turned to Anko, and asked, "Anko, give me a physical description of Naruto."

Anko looked at her in confusion, but answered, "The gaki has bright spiky blonde… hair… and blue…" she then looked directly at Tsunade who nodded her head. "No way, the gaki is the Fourth's brat?"

Naruto watched the discussion between Tsunade and Anko only to become more confused. "Huh?" was all he could ask.

Tsunade lifted his chin and kissed him on the forehead, and said, "Naruto-kun, you're the son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage of Konohagature no Sato, and Kushina Uzumaki."

It suddenly hit Naruto and he began to shake his head, and whispered, "No… no… how could he make his own son's life so miserable?" He suddenly got up and ran from the area, much to the surprise of most gathered.

Anko shook her head, and said, "That is a lot to take in at once. Someone should keep an eye on him.

Ayane stood. She then turned to the group, and said, "I'll watch over Naruto-kun. Maybe I can help him."

Naruto had run for a few minutes and found a log to sit on, as he milled over the information he had just been presented. He was the son of the Fourth, the most revered Hokage, and the strongest. He was the most shunned and reviled of the village. How could they do that to the son of a Hokage? What bothered him more is that if he had been raised as the son of a Hokage, he might have ended up like Sasuke, or Konohamaru, while Konohamaru wasn't too bad, he just needed some refinements. Sasuke, on the other hand, had ended up on a spoiled brat. Sure they shared the fact that they had no family, but Sasuke was never shunned like he was. Was the reason he didn't become like Sasuke because his past was hidden from him, as was the fact that he contained the Kyuubi?

Naruto felt and heard Ayane come up and sit down beside him. "A Bu for your thoughts…" she said in a playful tone.

Naruto looked at her with saddened eyes, and said, "They treated me like I wasn't worth their time, but your cousin was almost a god."

Ayane giggled at Naruto's comment. "The main house of the Uchiha always thought of themselves as better than others. Itachi was better, but also he pushed himself. Little Sasuke resented the fact that his brother excelled while he was just good. You must understand that their father wasn't the nicest of people and wouldn't give praise easily or often, other than to Itachi, but with the praise came a lot of pressure to excel," she explained, as Naruto listened to her. "I only know little Sasuke of about five years ago, so I'm not sure how the deaths of the clan affected him. Also Itachi being the one to destroy the clan must have had a big effect on Sasuke too."

"I understand why he wants to kill his brother for destroying the clan, but why couldn't he have stayed and done it with us?" he asked in confusion.

Ayane smiled warmly at Naruto, and then she asked, "You were hampered in the academy, were you not?" Naruto nodded to the question, so she continued, "So you were thought to be at the bottom of the class and not very capable, right?" he again nodded to her question. "So did your skill improve exponentially when you got out of the classroom?"

Naruto nodded, but then asked, "Yes, but, why does that matter?"

Ayane rubbed his back, and explained, "What if you're improving and you have a competitive streak? But if the one you're competing against is improving quicker than you? You might feel like you're standing still." Naruto nodded, as if he understood, but wasn't sure if he did. She then continued, "Sasuke always compared himself to others, rather than comparing himself to what he could do the day or month before, this is a bad yard stick to use to do comparisons. Sasuke is an Uchiha and they do learn at an accelerated rate, especially with their Sharingan, but you're the container of the Kyuubi, the son of the Fourth Hokage, and the apprentice to not one, but two Sannin."

Naruto brightened up at hearing this, and asked, "So if we get him to train under a Sannin, say Ero-sennin, he wouldn't feel so far behind?"

Ayane shook her head, she then said, "Everyone learns at their own pace, Naruto-kun. From what I've heard, Sasuke is jealous of your coming into your own and becoming strong enough to defend yourself. He wasn't ready for the 'dead last' of the class to catch and surpass him. So don't worry…" she said but halted, as she looked around.

Naruto became aware of two other presences, and said in a low growl, "Come out Itachi-teme…"

Itachi and Kisame appeared in the middle of the clearing, Kisame with a huge grin on his face. "I see you have improved Naruto-kun, but you will still have to come with us, you're still needed," Itachi explained.

Naruto smirked, and said, "Me come with a heartless bastard like you? Not going to happen."

Ayane looked on in awe, as she was being reunited with Itachi after so long, she then whispered under her breath, "Itachi-kun…"

Itachi looked at her and scowled, he then said, "An older woman, Naruto-kun?"

Ayane was shaken out of her reverence by the coldness of his voice, she then activated her Sharingan, and said, "Itachi Uchiha, you will cease your assault upon Naruto-kun!"

Itachi was about to dismiss the girl but then began to recognize the woman with Naruto. The words were caught in his throat, as he spoke, "You're supposed to be dead…"

Ayane's face darkened, as she replied, "You can thank your father and Orochimaru for me supposed death, and Naruto-kun and his friends for my being alive. Now stop your attacks on Naruto-kun!"

Kisame smiled widened at hearing this discussion, and said to Naruto, "Shall we fight while the love birds resolve their differences?"

Naruto shrugged, and pulled out a couple of kunai. He then smiled and asked, "So fish-face, you really think you're going to win against me?"

Kisame laughed at Naruto, and replied, "How are you a runt, going to beat me?"

Naruto flared his chakra, and made a hand seal, while he whispered, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu." The clearing was filled with a hundred Naruto.

"That trick might work on others, but it won't work on me!" Kisame proclaimed, as he swung his sword and made a swath of destroyed clones.

Naruto smirked, as Kisame had fallen for his trap.

------------

Akemi and Hinata were in the bath relaxing, as she got an image of Kisame killing Naruto clones. She paled as images bombarded her mind. "Naruto-kun is in trouble," she said quietly, as she rose from the bath.

Hinata gasped, as she nearly jumped from the bath, and gathered towels for her and Akemi. Both ran to their rooms to gather equipment.

-----------

Anko shook her head, and said, "I don't understand what his problem is…"

Tsunade looked at the woman, sighed and said, "Naruto-kun had it worse than you did, your teacher was a traitor, Naruto-kun has a demon that nearly destroyed the village sealed within him. He has only come to know that is the reason he was hated in the village, now to learn the very person he admired sealed the one thing that has caused him such misery, is also his father. Wouldn't you be confused?"

Anko nodded, and said, "Guess you're right and I've been a little hard on the gaki…" Anko and the others turned towards where Naruto and Ayane left, and she asked, "Isn't that Naruto's chakra?"

Tsunade nodded, as everyone got up and jumped in that direction, she then said, "We're coming Naruto-kun."

Hiuo and Kimera ran towards the house to try to get any others and hide from any trouble that might head their way.

----------

Gaara and Matusuri were meditating until they felt Naruto's chakra pulse. They both looked at one another and then jumped up speeding off in the direction of Naruto's chakra flare. Not a word given between the two, as she knew how much Naruto meant to him and to her by default, in the way he had brought Gaara back from the brink of insanity, for that she would be forever grateful.

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A/N: Sorry for the cliff hanger, but I already have the next chapter ready and will take a week before I give it to my beta for edits.

Deathvmp: To answer your question, yes, having a baby while your fifty is a big risk for both the mother and the child, also with her having used her 'Rebirth' jutsu, a lot of her body is more like seventy years old, thus her injuries could cause more problems with carrying the baby(ies). Shizune is a fit younger woman in her thirties, while Anko is in her twenties, I'm not so sure that Tsunade would ask Anko, though.

Jordan no Kitsune: Yes, to the citrus, but it was written by my beta, and I let it pass, so blame me for being silly and having some weird fun with my story.

Leaf Ranger: Iwa are people too ;)… As you will figure out, all the powers have their reasons for pushing for Tsunade to join them. Some are obvious, like Suna, where Gaara and Temari both appreciate and like Naruto, Kumo, who might want the Byakugan, even if they have to let it percolate through a clan first. Iwa, I'm leaving as a mystery for now, you can either put it up to them wanting to hurt Konoha by grabbing a Sannin, or just want a great medic, or their might be another deeper reason… as for Uzumaki of the Whirlpool, Konoha is the bad guy in that story for the most part. As to the unasked question: How did they find out when the council is clueless? Not going to tell, at least not yet...


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: You know the drill, I own everything, so there… Naw this is a fictional work based on the works of Masashi Kishimoto, and if I owned it the story would be different… enough said.

A/N: Minor lemon in this chapter, it is short and sweet but nothing too risky. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 9 – Old friends, new rules…

Ayane stared angrily at Itachi, she then said, "You're here for him, and then what? Are you going to kill him like you did the rest of the clan? I know they were just unfeeling morons, but he isn't."

"You have no knowledge of what we need him for," Itachi replied without emotion.

"Did you kill your emotions, did you kill your love for me?" she screamed at Itachi.

"To me you could just be a person with a transformation jutsu on, the Ayane I love is dead and so are those who killed her," he relied, as he continued to look at her.

"You're a fool, Itachi! I thought you were different from your father, I guess I was wrong! He wanted me to be married off to Shisui, and since he disapproved of me, he had your father and the village council sent me off on a mission where Orochimaru captured me! He wanted to use me as an Uchiha breeding factory!" she yelled, as Itachi continued to look on impassively.

"I'm not my father!" Itachi yelled in a surprising display of emotion.

"Then prove it, help Naruto-kun," she said in a level tone.

"I cannot, leader would destroy me if I did that, I also have Kisame to contend with. So the answer is no, I'm sorry," Itachi said with a sad smile.

Ayane whimpered and asked, "Do you still love me?"

Itachi touched her face gently and replied, "I've never stopped loving you Ayane-chan, never…"

Kisame continued to hack through Naruto after Naruto in an attempt to find him or at least cut the number of clones he was producing. His instincts suddenly told him to turn and defend. He quickly turned to find several Naruto with swirling balls of chakra heading straight at him. He grinned, as he knew that Samehada would take care of the chakra. Much to his surprise Samehada began to lose scales with each ball that hit the sword, sure it took the chakra, but it would take damage from these 'Rasengan'. Where had he heard about this jutsu before, suddenly a name came to mind 'Yondaime! Oh crap, if the gaki can use that jutsu and shadow clones, he could ambush me and might even hurt me with it,' he thought, as he began to dispatch the clones that attacked him.

Naruto was panting hard and hiding behind a tree, as his clones continued to attempt to pummel Kisame. He had lucked out, as Ayane was actually dealing with Itachi and kept him busy. Kisame had gone through about five-hundred clones so far and Naruto was feeling the strain of them using the Rasengan against Kisame. If he could just break that damn sword he would have a chance, or if help arrived soon enough. Naruto smiled, as he felt several familiar chakra signatures heading his direction.

Kisame was too busy to look at Itachi, but decided that if the collection of chakra signatures coming were any indication, the two of them were in trouble and would need to leave, so he said, "Hate to break up your love affair Itachi, but we need to leave, now!" Kisame jumped out of the way, as several clones collided and their respective Rasengans exploded and send Kisame flying into a tree.

Itachi turned and whispered to Ayane, "I will seek you out and try to help you if I can." He then yelled, "Yes, let us go before we are overwhelmed." With that comment Itachi and Kisame both left the island.

The Naruto clones dispersed wholesale, as Naruto grabbed his head in pain, and collapsed next to a tree a dozen feet from Ayane. All the others entered the clearing to find Ayane holding Naruto in her lap, as he nursed a headache. Hinata soon appeared with Akemi on her back nursing a similar headache.

--------

Naruto and Akemi had recovered from their headaches quickly enough, but Tsunade was worried about how quickly Itachi and Akatsuki had found Naruto. Naruto and Akemi were currently sharing the bath in an attempt relax from the memories of fighting Kisame. While some worried about Naruto and Akemi sharing a bath, she wasn't worried, as both knew each other's body well enough and they need relaxation more than they needed to have privacy.

-----------

Naruto smirked, as he pulled the towel over his eyes and head, the coolness of the towel felt good to his aching head. "So imouto, how are things going with Haku?" he asked, as if he knew something.

Akemi blushed, but also tried to hide her emotions, and had a hard time, as she stuttered out, "F… fine, why do you ask?"

Naruto chuckled, and replied, "It's hard to resist temptation isn't it?"

Akemi was baffled at his comment, so she asked, "What do you mean niisan?"

Naruto took the towel off his face and looked directly into her blue eyes, and said, "That wasn't nice showing me a picture of Hinata-chan naked, and worse yet, I was in a spar with Roushi. He's a task master, and you know it. While I put the image of the girl I love out of my mind when we do exams, that is something I couldn't forget," he said almost accusatorily. He then smiled, and asked, "Is it because you came close with Haku?"

Akemi stood hoping the sight of her nude form would stun him, but was stunned herself when he began to laugh. "What? What are you laughing at?" she asked.

"You're trying to use your feminine whiles to try to distract me, but it won't work. Being seduced or even embarrassed by seeing you naked would be like seeing Tsunade obasan naked, while you're not old and shriveled, you're my sister and I'm not going to play that game," he admitted.

"So, me being naked in front of you, does nothing for you?" she asked.

Naruto shook his head, and said, "While I think you have a nice figure, your basically my twin and that is just gross, sort of like Neji and Hinata-chan being a couple."

Both grinned and looked at each other and then made a face, as they both said at the same time, "Ew!"

"But seriously niisan, are you okay with Minato being our father?" she asked with a worry on written on her face.

Naruto sighed, and then said, "I'm not sure what to think, on one side I understand why he did it, on the other hand it hurts that he didn't do anything for us, well at least me."

Akemi giggled, hugged Naruto, and then said, "I know what you mean niisan, as in a way I'm you. He gave you a gift and a curse at the same time. Without it you would just be an orphan, and I wouldn't be here, to tease you," she said, as she released her fox features.

Naruto chuckled at her antics, and said, "For the little while you've been around, I've enjoyed being with you imouto and by the way the ears are cute. I agree that it was both a curse and a gift. I just wish I could understand why he didn't set anything up for us."

Akemi giggled, and replied, "Well, mother never carried me in her womb, so he never knew about me."

Naruto let out a belly laugh, and stated, "You have two mothers, you silly girl, Kushina and Kyuubi. That is the craziest thing I can think of other than bloodline theft. Speaking of which, I'm hoping that obasan doesn't want me to be a father for a little while yet."

Akemi blushed and giggle. "What is my niisan not ready to be a dad?" she asked in a teasing voice.

Naruto shook his head, but he had a big grin on his face. "Though it appears you're ready to maybe become a mother."

Akemi gasped, and then asked, "Did Hinata-chan tell you?"

Naruto grinned and shook his head. "No she didn't, but you just did," he replied, as he had caught her. His tone turned serious, as he asked, "So do you love him?"

Akemi look at Naruto in awe, as he showed no anger or hate in his manner or form. "I think I do, as we both know we don't know that much about the subject. He is very nice to me and would never hurt me. I trust him with my heart and my life, if that is important," she admitted.

Naruto nodded, and said, "If you can trust him with your heart than I approve. I just hope we don't have any little ones any time soon."

Akemi blushed and looked down, as if in shame. "Naruto-kun, I almost couldn't control myself with Haku-kun. We nearly went all the way yesterday," she admitted.

Naruto nodded, and said, "I could think of worse people you could nearly have been with, like teme…"

Akemi looked disgusted, as Naruto laughed, she said, "Ew, that bastard. I would just as soon take you into my bed than him, Naruto-kun, and I wouldn't do that."

Naruto chuckled at her response, and said, "I'm glad to hear that, well… sort of… I guess… You're confusing me…"

"Not that hard to do, niisan…" she sang her reply, as Naruto splashed her. "Now to a serious subject, how was fighting Kisame?"

Naruto smiled, and said, "I got my ass kicked."

Akemi giggled at Naruto and put in her own commentary, "I saw it from the point of view of those who sacrificed themselves for my big brother." She then embraced him in a hug.

"I know, we both got a front row seat to Samehada seeing it cut my clones into pieces, but it was sure fun to hit it with Rasengans, I was afraid that the damn sword would suck them up as soon as they it, but apparently it takes a moment for it to absorb the chakra. So now we have a way to damage the sword and not be so worried about it absorbing our chakra," he explained.

"So, Ayane was able to keep Itachi busy, that was good or else we both might have been dead," she said with a frown on her face. She then brightened, as she said excitedly, "Time to get dried off and dressed for our double date!"

She got out of the bath and pulled Naruto with her, as they grabbed towels and dried off. They then headed towards the exit.

----------

Hinata and Haku were waiting for their respective dates. They decided to discuss their feelings for their respective blonde. Hinata asked Haku, "So why did you stop Akemi?"

Haku blushed, and cleared his throat, as he said, "While I love her deeply, we are not ready for that deep of a relationship. I would say that it was almost instinct that took over, she literally tore my clothes off. I was ready in spirit, but didn't want to take advantage of her in that state. When the time is right we will do it."

Hinata blushed and smiled, as she said, "You really do love her. She is very lucky to have someone like you. We're both blessed with the ones we love. Akemi-chan, told me about that day, she is scared that she drove you away."

Haku shook his head, and said, "No, I was honored and touched that she would want to be with me."

Hinata giggled, and she asked, "You're not worried that she is Naruto-kun, only female?"

Haku smiled and blushed, as he replied, "You and I both know by now that they are not the same person, Naruto-kun is definitely yours, and a guy. They both have hearts of gold, but Akemi-chan is definitely a woman, in both body and mind. I hate to admit it, but I think she is smarter than Naruto-kun."

Hinata frowned at this comment, and said, "I resent that comment Haku-kun, Naruto-kun has had to fight against both the fox and against his training, as poor as it was. She benefited from Naruto-kun getting more training than before."

Haku sighed, as he could only agree, and said, "I know she is only in actuality a half year old, but she is more like a woman to me. Naruto-kun and Akemi-chan's growth has been phenomenal. I'm honored to be loved by her and hope that Naruto-kun will not hold it against me for my moment of weakness."

Hinata giggled, and put her hand on Haku's shoulder. "You were actually strong, as Naruto-kun also stopped us from doing the same after we got here. I think you're in love with Akemi-chan, as much as I'm in love with Naruto-kun," she admitted, with a dark blush, as Haku also blushed.

Temari entered the room all smiles and in a beautiful black kimono. "How are my brother-in-law-to-be and my sister doing?" she asked.

Hinata and Haku smiled warmly at Temari, as they knew she was taking her role as Naruto's second wife, as best as she could. They worried that she might not end up happy if she was going to be playing second fiddle to Hinata. She had assured them that if Naruto could give her a child and a shadow clone she would be happy. Hinata knew that Naruto had a big enough heart to let Temari in and still not neglect her.

Haku knew that Temari both felt love and gratitude towards Naruto, as she had explained to him what he had done for Gaara. She had even admitted that she was tempted to marry both Haku and Naruto just to be able to thank them both.

"So are we ready for a night on the town?"Temari asked, but she did have news for both of the couples, she wasn't sure how they would take it but she hoped it would not cause problems.

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Tsunade looked at Ayane and continued to go over their conversation about what had happened earlier. "Are you sure that your feelings towards Itachi will not endanger Naruto-kun?" Tsunade asked sternly.

Ayane smiled, and nodded, as she said, "I adore Naruto-kun, and would never hurt him, even if I'm in love with Itachi-kun. I believe that Itachi is stuck in a hard place right now, but if we can get him away from this Kisame person we can have a valuable ally."

"So you're sure that he won't hurt Naruto-kun?" Tsunade asked in a fearful voice.

Ayane giggled, and said, "Has Itachi hurt Naruto-kun before?"

Tsunade thought about it, shook her head and said, "No, not even when he hurt his brother."

"Itachi was part of the ANBU detail that watched over Naruto-kun when he was younger, and the villagers would cause him some trouble," Ayane explained, and Tsunade smiled at hearing this. Ayane's face changed to concern, and then said, "It appears that Itachi-kun isn't feeling well, I hope he returns soon, I would hate to lose him."

Tsunade nodded at this.

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Roushi and Anko were lying in bed together, tired and smiling. "I guess there are advantages of having a demon sealed inside of you," she said seductively.

Roushi smiled and kissed her deeply, as she shifted back on top of him for another round of love making. "I hope the silence seals don't fail," he said quietly, as she slid down on him, and smiled.

(Lemon starts)

"They will find out some time, I'm not sure the contraceptive jutsu will even work on you, as every time you let go I feel a burst of demon chakra, and boy does that send me over the top. It also burns my curse seal. I figure if we keep this up it might even get rid of it soon. So love me like there is not tomorrow, Roushi-kun," she said seductively, as she shifted forward and back, feeling the pleasure of him inside of her.

Roushi grinned, as her speed increased. "How about I just push demon chakra out during the whole session?" he asked, as she began to pant and nodded 'yes'.

They both smiled as she began to convulse in an orgasm. He read her lips, as she quietly moaned, "More, I want more."

Roushi nodded, as he worked to keep and even pace, but had to role her over on to her back, as she had peaked and lost some of her momentum. Roushi continue to drive into her, as she hit her second orgasm in less than ten minutes. Her quiet moan and stuttered breath caused him to reach his climax in less than a minute. He collapsed on her and looked her in the eyes and smiled gently.

(End Lemon)

Roushi rolled on to his back as Anko followed only to lay her head on his chest and have her leg wrapped around his. "You know if we keep this up, you will become pregnant?" he said happily.

Anko smiled and kissed him gently. "So… I could think of worse thing that could happen. I kind of like you anyways," she replied seductively.

Roushi chuckled at her antics. "So you wouldn't be opposed to having a former Rock ninja as a husband?" he asked.

Anko got up on her elbows giving Roushi a look at her chest in all its glory. She looked him in the eyes, and asked, "Are you asking me to marry you?"

Roushi smiled wryly, and answered, "Well it's between you and that blonde chick…"

She swatted him on the chest. "Isn't she a little young for you, and she is betrothed to Naruto-kun," she said in a mock hurt tone.

Roushi shook his head and smiled again. "No I was thinking of the other blonde, that Senju woman, what was her name?"

Anko smiled, but also looked incensed. "Why you…" she happily said, as she leaned into him and kissed him deeply. "I would love to…"

Roushi smiled, as he shifted back onto her and started to make love yet again with her. "Ready for round eight?" he asked, as he had already started.

She nodded as she kissed him deeply and accepted his love.

---------

Naruto and Haku were confused, as they walked down the street, Temari had both of them by the arms while Hinata and Akemi had the outside. Naruto was thankful for Temari and Hinata, as they seemed to temper the girls from the village that were around his age, most would come up and give him a hug. When the girls weren't around they would attempt to kiss him. Maybe being betrothed was a good thing.

The five entered a local restaurant that served seafood, with noodles. Hinata, Temari and Haku forbid Akemi and Naruto from ordering ramen. So they ordered the seafood fettuccini, while not as good as Ichiraku's ramen, it was rather good. The meal went fairly well, with only a few interruptions. Naruto had the bill sent to Tsunade for payment.

The five looked over the building that would be the new clinic in the village and thought it looked nice, as four of the five would have to work there when they weren't on missions. The walk continued to confuse Haku and Naruto, as Temari would switch off and move between the two of them at random intervals. The conversation moved from what they learned that day in 'class' to missions each of them had been on. They all kept on avoiding the one subject that was on all their minds. 'Where were they going in their respective relationships?'

Naruto had accepted the fact that he was going to marry Hinata and Temari, as they both told him that they were fine with the relationship, as long as they got their respective cuddle time with Naruto.

-----------

"So we're not going to take Hinata-chan from this group?" Yugito asked, as Kirabi shook his head. "Has your brother changed his mind?"

Kirabi signed, and said, "No, he still wants the Byakugan, but doesn't want to anger Tsunade-sama and forfeit the chance to get several bloodlines in the village, as opposed to just one. He also doesn't want to anger Naruto-san, and possibly lose the two of us. He worries about you, you know that?"

Yugito blushed and nodded. "I know, but what did he actually send us to do, other than to make us nursemaids to Tsunade-sama?" she asked.

Kirabi chuckled at the question, but answered, "I don't know what he is up too. He might want us here for mutual protection against Akatsuki or have a convenient place for all of the jinchuuriki like us to gather. My brother can be weird at times. I'm just glad he gave me this break, I hope it lasts," he said.

----------

Tazuna entered Tsunade's makeshift office, her room. "Well, we have the clinic basically done. All we need are the supplies to be delivered. I'm afraid most of them are coming from Fire country and we will need shinobi to guard them. Some of the supplies will come from Konoha itself. How do you want to deal with that?" he asked not sure how she would answer.

Tsunade sighed, as she knew there would be some problems that would be unavoidable. "I will put a call in to Jiraiya, and have a team that he trusts escort the supplies from Konoha. We can use our teams for the others. Are there any coming from Water country?" she asked, hoping for a negative reply.

Tazuna shook his head, as he knew she was still quite mad at that village, and their attitudes towards her and her band. "No, luckily they are coming from either Fire or Lightning countries. There is also a shipment coming from Wind country compliments of the Suna council. I think it is a dowry for Temari and Naruto. There are also messages from the lands of Waterfall, Snow, Tea, and from a place called Whirlpool. I thought it was destroyed more than eighteen years ago," he commented.

Tsunade's eyes went wide at the mention of Whirlpool. "We need to see the message from Whirlpool," she said, as she left the room with Tazuna.

----------

Ino wasn't sure why she had been summoned, but was happy to get away from Sakura's mother. She had ambushed her inside of the flower shop telling her that she had no choice in the betrothal to Sasuke Uchiha. While she was somewhat bored waiting for her meeting with the Hokage, Tsunade, she was certainly glad to be away from the shop now, as she knew her mother and Sakura's mother would be fighting right now. The rumor now was that Tsunade was going to retire and had several pet projects that would keep the village busy during the first few months of Jiraiya's reign as Hokage.

"She will see you now," the female chuunin at the desk said to Ino.

Ino stood, bowed and headed into the office. She saw Hiashi, Tsume, Shikaku, Chouza, Hedeki and her father, along with a few people she didn't know.

Tsunade (Jiraiya) smiled at Ino and pointed to a chair with an outstretched arm. "Please sit Ino-chan, we have a few things to discuss and it shouldn't take too much of your time. Afterwards you can return to your store," she said happily.

Ino shook her head. "Please dad, Sakura's mother is there. I don't want to go back there right now," she said in worried tone.

Inoichi shook his head, turned to Jiraiya, and said, "See, she no longer is a fan of the Uchiha traitor."

Ino looked confused, but wanted to know what was going on, so she waited to see where this conversation led.

Jiraiya, as Tsunade, asked, "So what are your feelings towards Sasuke Uchiha? Please be frank, your father, and the others, are here to assure your honesty to my questions."

Ino swallowed hard, and then said, "Well I used to like him. That was, until he led a few of my friends to be hurt, a couple of them badly."

Hiashi nodded at her statement, as Jiraiya nodded. "Please, go on," he asked.

"Well, Choji and Shikamaru are close friends. Choji got really hurt trying to bring them back. While I'm not a really good friend to Naruto, he's a nice guy and he got hurt even worse. We have so much to thank him for. He helped defeat that Gaara guy, saved a couple Daimyos, and brought you back to Konoha, Tsunade-sama," she said with a blush. She then continued, "I was surprised and shocked to hear that Naruto was banished and would do anything to try to get him back here. The village just isn't the same as it used to be. It's like the warmth of the sun is missing."

Jiraiya smiled at the reaction his pupil had on some, this one deserved further study and would be a choice for any missions that were needed by Tsunade. "Thank you Ino-chan, you are free to go, and if you want to avoid Mrs. Haruno, you can, and make it an order from me if you like," he said with a wink.

Ino nearly jumped from her seat, as she left the room, and closed the door behind her with a wide grin.

"Opinions?" Jiraiya asked.

Hiashi smiled, and said, "I'm impressed with how he has affected the younger generation. Most are loyal to him and will accept him when he returns, if we can swing it."

"My clan is still going to leave, at least the civilian portion of it, we need the help of Tsunade-sama for Yakumo-sama and we don't want to have that Uchiha brat in the clan. The shinobi will stay and remain loyal to you Hokage, and Jiraiya-sama when he takes over," Hedeki Kurama said with a wink.

Jiraiya nodded. "Fine, fine, you can all go to Wave at the end of the month. When I leave you can go with me," Jiraiya said with a wink and a smile.

---------

Hinata and Akemi were grinning up a storm as they had Naruto and Haku's heads on their respective laps. Temari had decided to tell them that harems could work both ways and that she had been authorized to follow her heart, she had admitted that she was in love with both Haku and Naruto and planned to marry them both. They would figure out how the arrangements would work later, but it would happen. Naruto and Haku at hearing this information pulled an old Hinata trick, as they blushed and then promptly passed out.

Temari thought about the whole situation several times and came up with this answer, 'I come from a mixed up family so why not try to get some love, being the second wife to two women, she had come to love as sisters was fine with her.'

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Gaara and Matsuri had also gone on a date that night, as he knew his sister's intentions of taking two husbands. While this confused him, he was happy with whatever she wanted, as long as it made her happy. Whatever the results he would have two brothers that he trusted and had helped him. The date with Matsuri was enjoyable in his opinion, as she was slowly breaking Gaara out of his shell and introducing him to feelings. This introduction was also a two edged sword, as Gaara had to deal with several boys in the town attempting to ask Matsuri out on dates. He had never had to deal with the gamut of emotions so was at a loss. Gaara leaned heavily on his friends for advice on how to deal with this other than killing the would-be suitors.

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A/N: Next chapter six month time skip, there are several interesting changes for the group. I also have them go on secret missions for a special item… Muhahaha…


	10. Chapter 10 Treasures

Disclaimer: You know the drill so why do I bother for each chapter, if you forgot check chapter 1…

Without further ado…

Chapter 10 – Seeking treasures…

Six months had passed and things had changed. Anko was sporting both a ring and a slightly extended belly. Tsunade had officially left the Hidden Leaf Village to much fanfare and chagrin for the council. Teams were swapped, as skills need for various missions were carefully applied. Shizune had started a nursing class for the village and there had been several takers, as nurses were paid by the 'Senju' fund. The clinic and compound had been completed, as were the labs in both facilities. Itachi had made a single visit only to be treated for Tuberculosis and damages caused by his Sharingan, as a parting gift Itachi agreed to send messages to Tsunade about Akatsuki, he also asked to be allowed visits with Ayane, who readily accepted.

Naruto's control continued to improve, as he and Akemi had figured out how to block unwanted memories from clones. The double Uzumaki wedding was set for a few days after Hinata's sixteenth birthday. The Kurama clan had moved into village, only to find that Naruto and Akemi had a calming influence upon the heir to that clan, Yakumo.

Right now most of the shinobi were off on a special mission for Tsunade, and she was giddy at the prospect of completion of said missions. The first team was Naruto, Yugito, Kirabi, and one of the Kumo shinobi, and they were right now in the capital of the Land of Lighting, Kumogakure no Sato to meet with the Raikage. The second team was Gaara, Temari, Matsuri and the other Suna nin, and they were currently in Sunagakure no Sato. Team three, was Roushi, Shizune and two rock nin, and they were in Iwagakure no Sato. Team four consisted of Haku, Hinata, Akemi, Hiuo, and Kimera, who all went to Nagi Island near Tea country.

Tsunade, Anko and the remaining shinobi worked with the village population to raise their general abilities in self-defense. Anko by now had lost her curse seal mark, as her wedding night with Roushi, burned her out, along with the curse seal, Anko woke the next day in the clinic with the biggest grin on her face, saying that 'it was worth it'. Orochimaru on the other hand didn't enjoy Anko's honeymoon, as much as she did, he felt the pain of his mark being burned off and destroyed, as a piece of his soul was destroyed, and any power he may have had over Anko was also destroyed.

-------

Naruto was fidgeting, as his team waited to see the Raikage. "What is taking him so long to see us?" he asked, as his impatience showed.

Yugito put a reassuring hand upon his shoulder and smiled. "Take it easy, Naruto-kun. He always does this, unless it's an emergency. We both know what our mission is, but also Tsunade-sama wanted us to talk to him and see if he had any advice for you if you can go back to Konoha and become Hokage, so that our villages could coexist more peacefully," she said in a calm voice.

Another twenty minutes of Naruto fidgeting would pass before they were allowed to enter the Raikage's office. Yugito had to stymie a giggle, as she watched Naruto go stiff as a board when he got a good look at the Raikage, a dark-skinned man nearly six and a half feet tall and bulging everywhere with muscles.

The Raikage eyed Naruto after a quick glance at Kirabi, who was leaning against the wall. "Is this the whelp?" he asked, while looking directly into Naruto eyes.

All fear was forgotten at being called a 'whelp'. "Hey! Old man! What do you mean calling me a whelp?" he demanded, as the Raikage raised an eyebrow.

"What he be, is the holder of the Kyuubi, a whole lot more, than he is less," Kirabi replied, as Yugito and the Raikage both sighed at the attempted rap.

----------

Gaara smiled, as they had finished their report to the council and had gotten their objective, after saying 'hi' to Kankarou. They left as quickly, as they came, and leaving little evidence of their return or departure, other than a light spot on the wall where something was supposed to be hung.

-----------

Roushi finally came out of the office with two scrolls in his hand, and a scowl on his face. The Tsuchikage apparently wasn't happy with his reports, she said they were too short and lacked enough detail for her to make a determination on whether to attack Konoha or Wave, or both. Their argument had lasted the better part of an hour.

Shizune wore a worried look upon her face, as she asked, "Did you get it?"

Roushi's face turned into a grin that could rival Naruto's. "I got it and she's none the wiser, she also wanted to know if she could have a border skirmish with Konoha," he replied without batting an eye.

Shizune giggled at this question, as she knew who Jiraiya would send to the border to help with that type of dispute, and all she could do was smile and shake her head.

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Haku stood sweating profusely as he continued hold the waters back from members of his team. He had created an ice wall and cleared the water from it just off the coast of island. Hiuo had found the object they were looking for but could not dislodge it from the sea floor. It took the combined effort of Akemi, Hinata and Ayane to get the object, as Kimera held a towel around a shivering Hiuo.

Akemi climbed the last few feet as the base of the ice tunnel began to collapse and water rushed in. Akemi jumped to the ledge, as Haku collapsed and Akemi smiled, as she caught him. "Mission accomplished love, now we can rest then head home," she said with a smile and then kissed Haku passionately.

--------

Tsunade sat at the desk, as she surveyed her teams. "Report, Naruto, you first," she ordered.

Naruto sighed, but began to speak, "The Raikage had a lot of wisdom he wanted to impart upon me. Also he willing gave me his hat, as a token of us sending him some volunteer Hyuuga if I get back and become Hokage. I told him I would talk it over with the Hyuuga and see if it were possible, but promised nothing."

Tsunade nodded impressed that he actually didn't give away the store while accomplishing his mission in getting the Raikage's hat. "Gaara, you're next. How was the visit home?"

Gaara stood impassively, as he replied, "Warm and dry."

The Suna team, Akemi, Naruto, and a few others began to laugh.

"Did you accomplish the mission?" Tsunade asked, as Gaara nodded and handed her the Kazekage's hat. "So, how did the council feel about your proposal, Temari?"

Temari blushed, but quickly suppressed the emotional outburst. "They thought it was… interesting, but they do not oppose it. They also hoped that my children would eventually take up residence in Suna, when they were old enough," she answered.

Tsunade nodded, and then looked at Roushi who wore a scowl. She nodded for him to begin.

Roushi handed her two scrolls, and threw his hands up in exasperation. "That woman drives me nuts," he said, as Tsunade raised an eyebrow. He then continued, "Yes, even more than you do."

Tsunade began to giggle at the man's anger.

"Yeah, laugh all you want, but here are her hat and her demands," he said, as Tsunade again raised an eyebrow. He nodded and continued, "You make requests, she demands, I swear the only woman I can stand is Anko-chan."

Tsunade unsealed the hat and put it up on a shelf with the other Kage hats she now had, only the Mizukage hat was missing from her collection. She opened the scroll with Tsuchikage's demands, and then looked wide eyed at Roushi, who only nodded. She turned to Naruto and said, "Looks like you're wanted by another Kage."

Naruto smacked his head, and said, "So what does she want, my left testicle or me to just give a donation?"

Tsunade scowled at the comment, but understood that he now understood what she was getting at. "Well, she wants you to father a child in her village and then she wants your head, the blonde one, on a silver platter."

Naruto opened his mouth in shock, but composed himself quickly. "Hey I didn't agree to father a ton of kids all around the elemental nations. There are three women that I've promised to father children too, you, Hinata-chan and Temari-chan. She can wait for them to grow up and see if they can stand an Iwa citizen and have their own kids. As for my head on a platter, ain't going to happen," he replied, as Roushi nodded.

Tsunade nodded at his answer and looked at Ayane, and asked, "So how did your mission go?"

Ayane's team was all smiles. "We got Raijin with only a cold child, and a tired ice user. No injuries or other problems, and Aoi is sleeping with the fish, we found his body and the fish seem to like him well enough," she replied, as she handed Tsunade the legendary sword of her great-uncle.

"Now for the final mission, and getting the Mizukage's hat. Since we are on bad terms with that country we might as well make it a mission to remember, they don't like bloodlines or jinchuuriki," Tsunade explained. A menacing grin crossed her face, as she continued, "I want an extra large team to head to Water, and get me that hat."

The group looked at Tsunade as if she had lost her mind, and then the door opened. A young girl a little older than Naruto walked in, she wore a white tank top, white pants, and a Waterfall headband on her right arm, with a red bundle on her back. She meekly waved, and said, "Hi, I'm Nijiko and I'm here to help Tsunade-sama where ever I can."

Everyone looked back at Tsunade whose grin just got bigger. "Now that we have them assembled, I want the Ichibi, Nibi, Yonbi, Hachibi jinchuuriki and Kyuubi to meet the Shichibi jinchuuriki. Now after I give you your assignment you can all meet each other and work on getting along," she explained to the group's surprise. She then continued, "I want all of you to go to Kirigakure and steal his hat. Six jinchuuriki, with three at jounin level should be enough to slip in and get the hat, while slipping out without too much trouble and be able to handle the trouble if it arises."

All wore looks of shock on their faces, as Tsunade laughed like a mad woman. Here she had assembled force on par with Akatsuki and if they eventually all got control of their bijuu like Kirabi, Roushi and Yugito did they would be unstoppable. If they damaged the village while they took the hat, it was all the better.

The next hour was filled with the ninjas introducing themselves and getting to know the newest person in the group.

---------

Two weeks later… Naruto was in a totally black outfit along with a black bandanna covering his hair he was not happy. Nijiko also wore a black outfit, and also shared her new friend's attitude. Kirabi and Roushi had insisted that all of them wear black outfits, and this was to help in concealing them during the mission.

They had slipped into the village easy enough, but what they found was pushing Naruto to his limits. People milled around the village happily enough, but what was causing Naruto to be mad was the sight of people standing naked in pillory and stocks. People would come by and spit on them or hit them calling them 'blood parasites'. Naruto began to argue to free them, but Roushi countered his suggestion in that it would endanger the mission and piss off Kiri even more.

As they avoided the patrols and neared the Mizukage's tower they saw a man in the window finishing up paperwork. He then left the office and headed deeper into the building. Kirabi, Yugito and Roushi left the three younger jinchuuriki to be guards, as they acquired the hat.

Gaara noticed Naruto's anger continuing to mount, looked at him and said, "When the mist rolls in replace the prisoners with clones or just free them. I don't care what you do, just calm down, we don't need the local ANBU on our heads, even if we could kill them all."

Naruto suddenly calmed and created a hundred clones, all of them then transformed into civilians from around the town. The clones headed out into the darkness towards the jail and the stockade where the people were being held.

Nijiko looked at Gaara with a confused look, and asked, "Why did you do that?"

Gaara continued to look around for trouble, but then whispered, "You must understand Naruto to understand why I did that. You as a fellow jinchuuriki have experienced the cruelty of humanity and don't like suffering. I did at one time enjoy it and believed that it confirmed my existence. Naruto showed me the error in my ways, and changed me. I understand the need to kill, but I also understand what it means to protect those who I feel are precious to me. Naruto is among those few I allow close to me."

Nijiko nodded, as she began to understand the person who she believed only to be an idiot, and he was much deeper than she had initially thought he was. She watched intently, as a smile crossed Naruto's face, confused, she asked, "Naruto-san, why are you smiling?"

Naruto turned to Nijiko and said, "All of them have bloodlines and want to leave, they are scheduled for execution tomorrow, but there is also a resistance in the city that would love to free them and send them away. I freed them all and have them outside the walls now. My clones will carry them and we can get them away from here."

Nijiko shook her head at his antics. He had taken at least a dozen prisoners out of a guarded stockade and moved them outside the walls in less than a dozen minutes.

Kirabi suddenly appeared next to Naruto and said, "We're out of here, now." He made his point by jumping in a straight line for the wall, not caring if he crossed any of the local patrols. Naruto, Gaara and Nijiko all followed as fast as they could.

Outside the walls at the staging area, they found Yugito yelling at a Naruto clone. "No, we can't take them! One, we don't have enough food, two, we don't have enough room in the boat, and third, this will bring the hunter nin on our butts. Fist a cloak now this. What else could go wrong?"

Naruto created another hundred clones and took clothing that was on several of the former prisoners and ran off to the south, he then laid down several scent blockers, as he and his clones took the newly freed prisoners west towards the coast. Naruto looked at the team and asked, "Are you coming or what? We can either steal or charter some boats to get away."

---------

Several hours later, Naruto pointed to several boats waiting on the coast. "That looks like a good place to leave Water," he exclaimed.

The fleet of about fifty fishing boats was moored in a small protected bay. Naruto was loading the freed people onto the boats, as Kirabi put a hand on his shoulder. "You know that Kiri will blame us for this," he explained.

Naruto shook his head and said, "Nope, I left some souvenirs from Oto. That should give Orochimaru-teme some troubles."

---------

Two days later in Wave, Tsunade was livid, as she read the reports from the team. First Naruto and the team show up with a hundred plus refugees from Water, all with bloodlines, and now she read the reports filed by Kirabi, Yugito and Roushi. All of the reports showed the same troubling thing, the Mizukage was in league with Akatsuki, if not a full-fledged member.

She did get a slight chuckle at Naruto leaving some snake scales and other paraphernalia that would come from Oto. There were times that Naruto could be a genius, and this was one of those times, as he had pushed the blame away from wave and on to Orochimaru. It served him right for having marked Sasuke and gotten Naruto nearly killed by trying to have Sasuke defect. The sealed bodies of the Sound five were currently being examined in the lab.

----------

Orochimaru wasn't happy. No he wasn't happy at all. He found out that the Village Hidden in the Mist had found evidence that he had taken several prisoners scheduled for execution, as they had bloodlines. The thing that worried him was that he hadn't thought of it first and taken them, so he would be legitimately blamed for something he had done. No, the Mizukage had raised his bounty and those for Oto shinobi. While this could cause problems with his lower ranked shinobi it wouldn't bother his more experienced shinobi or his missing nin.

"Kabuto, we need to find out who took those prisoners from Water, and get them here so I can experiment with them," Orochimaru explained.

Kabuto bowed, but then asked, "Are we putting getting out Sasuke-kun on hold or are we doing both?"

Orochimaru pondered this for a moment than smiled evilly. "Give priority to Sasuke-kun, as my teammate is a buffoon," he exclaimed.

"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied, as he bowed and left the room.

Orochimaru licked his lips with is grotesquely large tongue. 'You will be mine soon enough Sasuke-kun…' he thought to himself.

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Sasuke shivered in his cell, as he felt that someone was thinking of him in a way he was sure he wanted to be thought about. 'List of things to do: Kill dobe, steal contract with toad and make them work for me, screw the pink banshee, if for no other reason than to shut her up, and finally go to Orochimaru and get the training I deserve,' he thought to himself.

Sasuke continued to do push-ups, as he contemplated what he was going to do. Soon afterwards he did some taijutsu kata in an attempt to increase his skill and speed, as his chakra was sealed away for the time being, so he made do with what he could. If he couldn't use chakra then he would work on his physical body.

The guards outside his cell kept a close eye on the 'Great' and 'Loyal' Uchiha, as he continued to keep himself entertained. If he doesn't bother them then it was okay for them to ignore him, as the council was now in charge of his prison term.

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Naruto was not in a place he had figured he would be in when he rescued the people from Water country. Hinata and Temari, while not truly mad at him, they were a little annoyed at the end results. He was getting offers from every female that he had brought back, even the married ones. The offer was to give him a child, if not more than one, with their bloodline. The two girls smiled, as Naruto graciously turned down yet another group of girls and women the chance to let them bare his children. It would have been funny if it didn't include their Naruto-kun.

The worst part was that Naruto had to stop being a doctor for a week at the clinic, as he became the preferred gynecologist for these females. "Hinata-chan, should we just kill them or figure a way to show that Naruto-kun is ours?"Temari asked loud enough for the assembled females to hear her. Most had the good graces to blush, but others looked angrily at the doctor, Hinata, and her assistant, Temari.

Hinata looked down at the charts and then looked at Temari, and said, "Naruto-kun is a good man. I'm sure he could handle all the women, but he couldn't understand them. So let's get a sample of their blood and get the information on their bloodlines so that we can work on getting them their own men."

Temari nodded at this. Naruto sat and watched this conversation in total confusion, as Hinata leaned down and kissed him passionately, followed by Temari. "You did good, Naruto-kun. We'll figure it out eventually for you," Temari explained.

-----------

Akemi looked at the summoning contract for Lizards and then at the contract for Slugs, as Haku sat next to her outside the compound. She then bit her finger and did several hand seals, and then called out, "Summoning Jutsu!"

A huge lizard the size of the compound appeared in a cloud of smoke. It looked like a Komodo dragon and looked down on the blonde girl and her brunet fiancé. "**You summoned mistress? What can I do for you, as the one who freed Kamereon from his torturous task? He also sends his thanks to you,"** the large lizard said in a booming, but kind voice.

Akemi smiled and then looked the lizard in the eye. "You're the boss of the lizard summons, correct?" she asked, as the lizard nodded. She then continued, "I then want to ask a few questions if I may." She waited for the lizard to nod, and then she continued, "May I sign other contracts, such as the slug or toad contracts?"

The lizard looked up, as if to ponder the question, and then answered, "**Yes you may sign either of those contracts, if they will have you, as we do not have a problem with either of those summons. I would however, not allow you, to sign the snake contract. If that is all you may call me Kyokaneki, Akemi-chan. And good luck with the toads, I hear Gamabunta has a new summoner who was able to ride him the whole day,"** Kyokaneki said with mirth.

Akemi smiled, and said, "Yeah, that was my niisan. Can I allow people to also sign the contract too?"

The lizard nodded, and replied, "**Yes, but you must first feel that they are worthy. The young man next to you is one such person we lizards wouldn't mind having as summoner, but try and have him find his families summons scroll first. Last I heard it was in the northern portion of the land of lighting. Good luck little ones."**

----------------

Naruto rolled his eyes, as a six year old girl asked if he would be her husband, right after her mother had asked him the same thing. Naruto then smiled and ruffled the child's hair, and said, "Nope sorry kid, I'm already spoken for, but thanks for the offer. I'm sure you'll make some man happy to be your husband."

The girl at first looked destroyed until he said the second part and then she jumped up and hugged him vigorously. "You really think so, niisan?" she asked happily, as the mother looked at Naruto longingly.

Naruto smiled warmly at the mother then waited for the girl to let him go and sit back down, and said, "Yes, I'm sure of it. You just listen to your mother and things will go better now." Naruto turned to the mother, as Temari lead the child out of the room, and said, "She will be fine, you just feed her the foods I told you and your bloodline will no longer eat either of you alive. I also took a sample of both of your blood so that we can see if there is a way for us to limit your bloodlust. While your bloodline is a fearsome one it also eats you alive, so keep up with the high iron diet I proscribed, it should keep your condition in check," he explained.

The woman smiled warmly showing off her elongated canine teeth. "Thank you doctor Naruto-kun. We were in your debt before, now we could never repay you. The offer still stands, I would bare you a child, as you would only need to ask," she explained.

Naruto smiled, and said, "Thank you for the offer, but my fiancés would be mad if I agreed to your offer, but you could take care of your daughter and that would make me happy, and be payment enough for what I've done. I'm just sorry I couldn't get your husband out."

The woman shook her head, and replied, "He died a year ago. Again thank you, for everything. Good day, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled, as he led the woman to the lobby to her waiting daughter, but she also slipped a piece of paper into Naruto's hands. He looked at the paper, and smiled warmly.

_Doctor Naruto-kun,_

_I must thank you for saving me and my little Mae-chan. I know you will refuse to allow me to bear you a child, as I also know why you would say no, and thankfully not because of our heinous bloodline, but because of your intendeds. It is for that reason I'm giving you this map to the hidden treasure of the Koumori clan, may it serve you well. Oh, and it will require some blood and a few hand seals to realize the treasure._

_Thank you,_

_Airi-chan_

Naruto put the note, with the map in his coat pocket, and smiled again. Temari wrapped an arm around Naruto's waist and asked, "Another note for a late night liaison?" she asked seductively.

Naruto shook his head, and replied, "No, just a happy mother, trying to redeem her clan, if she can. Here get this to Obasan. She might be interested in it."

He handed her the note and headed to the next patients room. "So Mr. Tsuku, I hear you're suffering from back pain, would you like to tell me a little more about this?" he asked, as he entered the room and Temari headed to Tsunade's office.

-----------

Tsunade looked at the note that Temari had just given her. 'So the Kyuuketsuki clan has a treasure they want to give Naru-chan?' she thought, as she read the note, and a smile crept up on her face. "You realize that this woman only offered to save face, right Temari?" she asked the younger kunoichi.

Temari nodded, and then said, "I read the note and was pleased in how koi-kun handled the situation. He is becoming a good doctor. Now we have several clans her in Wave and with Kiri looking at Oto for their troubles. I guess he is truly a good man."

"If we don't go back to Konoha, he can always become the Second Namikage," Tsunade said, as both women laughed at the prospect of Naruto becoming a leader. This laugh was not a demeaning one, rather a laugh at Konoha's stupidity.

Naruto had rescued over a hundred people from the Kiri stockade and prison. He had left evidence that Orochimaru was behind it, as the only prisoners that were taken had bloodlines.

---------

Orochimaru wasn't happy, he had lost the support or at least the marginal support of Kiri, as several of his trusted jounin lay dead and he had done nothing wrong. Whoever was behind the framing of him was an absolute genius in misdirection. The possible candidates were Akatsuki, Konoha and Tsunade. With the missing bloodlines not showing up in Konoha, as his spies could reliably tell him that no one new, was in town, so he would have to either point the blame either at her former teammate or Akatsuki. With both in somewhat hiding he would not get an answer anytime soon, unless it was a new player on the block.

"Kabuto?" Orochimaru called out to his assistant. "Is Sasuke-kun ready for extraction yet, I feel the need to 'train' him."

Kabuto smiled at the comment, but only nodded.

"Good, then send someone to fetch him, now," Orochimaru ordered.

Kabuto bowed and left the room with a large grin on his face.

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A/N: Well looking at the story so far, I hope you continue to enjoy it. Yes I know I did a double look at Orochimaru, but hey it's fun to tease him.

I do know that in cannon that the Mizukage is a woman, but I'm going on the assumption that Madara is the Mizukage, so that is what I'm sticking with. Also I know now that the Tsuchikage is an old man, but who cares when it works for my storyline, right?

EDelta88: I know which one you're talking about, Betazed. As for Naruto, he gets only Hinata and Temari, while Haku gets Akemi and Temari, no others will be allowed. Also the relationship between Naruto and Temari will be less serious than Hinata and Naruto. Temari knows that she is second woman in both relationships, so she will act as support for both her sisters in marriage.

The wandering Sould of 1014: I will eventually address what Jiraiya knows, and when he knew it, but it isn't in this chapter, sorry.

Iwannabeahero: You're funny as you said you read all 8 chapters on your comment on chapter 9, now I'm publishing chapter 10… My readers can be silly sometimes.

Nijiko – (Niji) Rainbow, (ko) child


	11. Chapter 11 Visit the Mizukage

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…

Chapter 11 – Visit the Mizukage…

Six weeks later the bodies of two chuunin guards were found at the entrance of Sasuke Uchiha's cell. Both were dead and the preliminary investigation could not find a source for their apparent deaths. Also odd was a missing genin known as Sakura Haruno. She apparently had been missing since a little after the call was put out that Sasuke was missing.

Jiraiya was not pleased at all. Someone, he guessed Sasuke, had tried to break into the Hokage's vault, but failed to get past the simple wards. When the alarm went off they quickly fled.

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Sakura lay in a bed naked under the covers and with a huge grin on her face. 'I beat you Ino-pig!' she proclaimed to herself mentally. Her clothes lay in a pile on the dresser in the hotel room. 'It sort of hurt, but it was nice…' she continued on her train of thought. She thought it would have hurt more, but apparently Sasuke-kun was a good fit for her, if only a 'little tight' according to him. She sighed in a hazed bliss unaware that she was the only one in the room and that Sasuke and his clothes were missing.

She finally got out of bed a couple hours later and finally noticed that Sasuke wasn't around. "Sasuke-kun," she said in a melodic voice. She moved around the room and found his stuff missing and only the stains on the sheets as evidence of him having been there.

She had packed light knowing that they would be heading to the Sound village, so she only packed enough clothes for a few days and some general supplies. They had gotten into the village late last night after Sasuke had been 'released' and told her that he wanted to be with her. Much to her surprise he wasn't as passionate as she had expected him to be. While she didn't mind, she did most of the work in getting him ready for a night of 'passion', which as she recalled lasted about twenty minutes each time and five for the blowjob, which was first.

They had 'made love' twice before she snuggled up to him. He had woken her a little later and gotten her a third time from behind and up the wrong hole, after than he seemed to sleep soundly with a smile on his face. She got into the shower and cleaned up. She left the bathroom in only a towel wrapped around her and looked into the room only to find an angry Inuzuka standing in the middle of the room holding handcuffs.

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Naruto and the rest of the trainees were looking at the naked dead form of one of the Sound Four, a girl named Tayuya. Naruto was given the 'privilege' of doing the autopsy. He sighed since the girl wasn't much older than himself and could have had a better life than she had had. She was still in her transformed state, horns and all. He traced the bruises and contusions on her face. He looked down the body and found that she might have been an attractive girl had she lived. The curse seal had given her a demonic look and he again sighed.

"Starting autopsy of subject Tayuya, from the Sound village, female, apparent age is about fourteen to fifteen, post pubescent. She has maintained her second level of the curse seal even after death. Quick overview shows she has multiple abrasions and contusions all across her entire body," he said into a microphone. He turned to Tsunade and looked annoyed. He then asked, "Do I really have to do 'that'?"

Tsunade sighed and nodded. "You know the drill, this will also make sure that I don't get any new children from you for a little while gaki," she explained.

Naruto sighed and turned the microphone back on. He moved down to her pelvic region and moved the legs apart. He moved his hand down in between her legs and hesitated. He again turned to Tsunade and asked, "Do I have too? I just seems like I'm violating her without her permission."

Tsunade put her hand on her face, sighed and shook her head. "Naruto, you will have to do this with each autopsy. Now get to it," she ordered.

Naruto swallowed hard and then began his pelvic examination. He finally spoke into the microphone. "Her hymen appears to be intact and thus I would conclude that she has not been sexually active. Although it is somewhat unusual for a near jounin class kunoichi to not have already destroyed her hymen just from physical training," he said in almost a questioning voice.

Tsunade smiled, and said, "Very good, Naruto. So you were reading some of the material that I gave you."

"Yeah, since you assigned me to be an obstetrician and pediatric doctor at the clinic," he said in a complaining tone. He moved to the chest region and pushed gently on the chest, as if feeling for something that couldn't be seen. He then continued his dictation, "Her chest cavity was collapsed, but seemed to have had some regeneration, but it appears to have stopped upon her death. I count no less than ten broken ribs and more than likely she died from both internal bleeding and mild suffocation."

Naruto then inserted a needle into the side of her neck. The blood flowed into a container below the table. Naruto watched patiently and then tapped the flow with an examination sampler. It filled slowly with a dozen cc's of the fluid. He handed the ampoule to Haku who put it a container to head to the lab after the autopsy was complete. Naruto took a dozen more samples, of which he handed to Haku to place in the same container for further study.

Naruto continued the examination until he found something interesting on the back of her neck. "Hey shishou, could you come here for a minute?" he asked, as he pointed to a faint mark on her neck. Tsunade came forward and looked at where he was pointing and then he asked, "Does that look like a seal to you? Earth, if I know my seals correctly."

"You get an A for today, Naruto. Good eyes for seeing that. It is barely visible with her skin so dark. That must be where the seal was placed on the girl. We shall check out each of the other bodies for a seal in the same location. Now finish your work, we don't have all day to finish this," she ordered.

Naruto pulled the tube out of the body's neck and moved the bottle to another table, so it wouldn't be spilt. He then pulled a rolling tray of tools over to the side of the table and used a scalpel to cut an 'X' pattern on her chest. He pulled out the electric saw and began to cut open the chest cavity only to have Haku faint. Naruto rolled his eyes, but then continued on his work.

The other students rolled their eyes, except for Akemi who began to fan her fiancé in an attempt to try to get him to wake up.

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Naruto finally got in the shower and was feeling better now that he was done with the autopsy. He didn't like cutting up dead people, especially girls. He liked that this work had improved his control, but wasn't sure he like the darker sides of the profession, like autopsies. Naruto suddenly felt like he was being watched, but couldn't place the feeling. He finished the shower and left the bathroom wearing only a towel. He found Hinata down the hall a little ways, unconscious and not thinking he bent down and picked her up bridal style. He failed to notice the towel falling from his waist.

Temari came up the stairs only to see a naked Naruto carrying an unconscious Hinata into his bedroom. She smirked and followed discretely. She jumped suddenly when a voice quietly said into her ear, "Trying to get a peak at your future husband?"

She turned to see Akemi standing there with a huge grin plastered on her face. "What do you want?" Temari asked in an annoyed tone.

"Go on in… I've seen it already and am not interested and given such he has seen me in the buff too. Might as well take yours off too and make it fair," Akemi said with a chuckle.

Naruto had placed Hinata on the bed and had gone to the dresser while the conversation had occurred between the females. He turned and dropped the pair of boxers he had taken from the dresser. Temari covered her mouth and had the decency to blush at the sight of a naked Naruto. Suddenly Temari felt her obi loosen and the front of her battle kimono open to reveal that she wasn't wearing a bra. Naruto turned red at the sight of Temari basically flashing her chest to the unsuspecting blonde. Naruto turned even redder when he saw Akemi grab a hold of Temari's panties and pull them down to her ankles.

Temari's eye shifted from his face to his neither region and saw the reaction. Her eyes widened, as he quickly turned around and started to say in an apologetic tone, "Sorry, I didn't mean to look!"

Temari looked down at herself and it finally hit her that she was basically naked in front of Naruto. She quickly closed the kimono and pulled her panties up. She then glared at the other female blonde.

"Temari-chan, why are you naked?" Hinata asked quietly from the bed. She then turned to see Naruto trying to hide his rising problem and promptly passed out yet again.

Temari confused ran to her room and closed the door behind herself. She was panting hard and felt both embarrassment and elation. She liked Naruto's reaction, but also felt embarrassed that Akemi had put her in the position to watch Naruto become excited at her expense.

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"What is going on here?" Tsunade asked, while watching Akemi rolling on the floor outside of Naruto's room. Akemi continued to laugh and sputter incoherently. She rounded the corner to see a naked Naruto standing in front of his dresser. She could tell that he was embarrassed, by the red ears sticking out from his blonde head. She moved into the room to find Hinata passed out on the bed with blood trickling down from her nose. She came up beside Naruto and noticed his erection. "Should I ask?" she asked more to try to break him out of his doldrums, than anything else.

He shook his head. She then heard from behind her. "Temari… you should have seen her face… I think she liked it Naruto-kun," Akemi said with a little too much mirth for Naruto.

"Stupid sister…" Naruto muttered under his breath.

Tsunade chuckled, but then asked, "Do you like the breeze or are you going to get some clothes on?"

Naruto sighed and then got dressed. Hinata woke up shortly after he had finished dressing. She noticed Akemi still giggling at the entrance of the room and Tsunade in the room sitting on a chair with a smirk on her face.

"Well now that you're up. I have a mission for Naruto, Hinata, Shizune and Ayane," Tsunade said, as she got up from the chair. She then smirked and said, "I would also watch who you show that weapon, Naruto-kun."

Naruto blushed, but then stuck his tongue out at the former Hokage. Hinata giggled at the two blonde's antics. Naruto and Hinata followed Tsunade into her office, while Akemi headed to find both Shizune and Ayane.

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Naruto, Hinata, Ayane and Shizune sat on comfortable chairs in Tsunade's office, waiting for her to finish up the mission scroll. She rolled it up and handed it to Shizune and said, "Shizune is the leader for this mission. I'm sending a jounin and three chuunin on this mission, so don't fail me."

Shizune opened the scroll and a look of surprise crossed her face. She looked at Tsunade who just nodded. She then turned to the other three present and said, "Alright, I need all of you to pack for an extended mission to several locations. We are doing a search and retrieval mission. Be ready by eight am tomorrow morning."

A chorus of "Hai," was the response from the others. Naruto, Hinata and Ayane left the room and closed the door behind them.

Shizune turned to Tsunade and asked, "This is an important mission, but don't you think that we should break it up a little? We have at least five objectives and they are spread all across the elemental nations. One is even in Kiri. That could be dangerous right now."

Tsunade wore a knowing smile and replied, "The Mizukage has been replaced. The old one was last seen in Fire country and from the reports I have, he more than likely is dead and his baggage is free."

Shizune gasped at this revelation.

-------------

Naruto secluded himself to a table lonely table in the mess hall, away from most everyone. Both Hinata and Temari both noticed him stealing glances at both girls and blushing profusely with each glance. Naruto had a sneaking suspicion that Akemi would try to pull another prank before he left in the morning. He felt sorry for Temari, but also couldn't get the image of her standing naked in front of him out of his mind. 'I know we're supposed to be engaged, but did she have to do that to us?' Naruto thought to himself.

Naruto saw Akemi sitting getting ready to sit down with Haku and an evil idea came to his mind. He remembered the image of Haku showering earlier from after their spar. He knew he would later use this as material for keeping his sister in line. He brought the image to forefront of his mind, created a clone and dispelled it immediately. Akemi immediately turned red and fell on her butt as the image came to her. Haku had caught her tray, so that she didn't spill her dinner on them. Akemi was fanning herself while Haku asked her if she was alright.

Naruto passed by with a smile and quietly said, "That's for embarrassing Temari-chan and I earlier."

Haku looked between the blondes, confusion written all over his face. "Huh?" he asked innocently.

"Ask her about it, I have to go to bed, got to get ready for a mission tomorrow. See you later, Haku-kun…" Naruto said, while drawing out the 'kun', much to the embarrassment of Akemi.

Hinata and Temari, who glared at Akemi, both got up and left with Naruto.

-------------

Naruto slept quietly next to Hinata, but woke up early the next morning. He got their stuff ready for their mission. He heard the door open and then close. Temari was standing there with her night kimono open and revealing that she wasn't wearing anything. "You like?" she asked with a sly grin on her face.

Naruto dumbly nodded, but then noticed Hinata nodding too. He rolled his eyes and then said, "Since we're all going to be a family why not let it all hang out." He then stripped naked. Temari chuckled perversely for a minute then her face turned dark.

She looked over at Hinata and smiled kindly and said, "You're very attractive Hinata-chan, but I'm more concerned about our husband-to-be." She then ran her finger up the side of his ribs, eliciting a giggle. She smiled at this, but again her face turned sour. "Naruto-kun, you need more meat on your bones you knucklehead. While I'm happy with the equipment, I'm worried that you might not last long with that build," she said after having grabbed his 'little man' gently. "We can play later, all three of us, but we need you to get ready for your mission. We're also still too young to play too much."

Naruto nodded and began to dress. Temari kissed him gently on the cheek and did the same with Hinata before closing her kimono and heading back to her room.

"That was weird, but I kind of liked it…" Naruto said looking down at the latent erection.

Hinata giggled and replied, "We will see how much you like it on the trip."

Naruto looked at the girl in awe, she was nearly his age, but had the body of a girl a few years older. She walked by and placed a finger below his jaw and closed his mouth. She kissed him passionately and then proceeded to get dressed.

Naruto and Hinata met up with Ayane and Shizune and went over the list of areas that they were going to head to. They would also meet up with Haku and a team when they got to Lightning country. Their first location was back to Water country and to find the treasure that was given to Naruto by a thankful mother.

---------------

Naruto's team arrived on the island nation of Water country and were immediately greeted by several group of Kiri shinobi. All of Naruto's group took up fighting positions, but relaxed when they saw that the all of the Kiri shinobi bowing to them. They then dispersed leaving only one team. A young man with a small sword walked up to the group and knelt before the team. "We bring you greetings from the new Mizukage and would like for you to accompany us to our hidden village, so that she can show you her gratitude," the man said very respectfully.

Naruto looked at Shizune who just nodded, but he could tell that she was secretly saying, 'Keep your guard up.'

Several hours later they came back to the village that Naruto had freed so many of the new occupants of Wave. The man slowed his pace and stood beside Naruto. "You know those of us with Kekkei Genkai owe you a lot Naruto-sama. My name is Itsuki," he said quietly, so that only Naruto could hear.

Naruto stopped and turned bright red. His eyes wide open and he wore a stunned look upon his face.

Itsuki bowed and said apologetically, "I'm sorry if I offended you Naruto-sama."

Shaken from his stupor, he put his hand on the back of his head and scratched it, fully embarrassed. "No, it's not that. I just didn't know you guys figured out it was me," Naruto said with a quiet and embarrassed tone.

"Some do, but most don't and are still angry at Orochimaru for 'taking' our 'special' people. Some of us have visited Wave and see that you have taken much better care of them then their countrymen," Itsuki said, as he glared at two of his team, who had the decency to look embarrassed.

"So the Land of Water is still on bad terms with the Sound village?" Shizune asked.

Itsuki nodded and said, "Yes, we know what he would do with those who have a Kekkei Genkai, so we are very pleased that they are in Wave, but you mustn't speak of this. Sometimes a lie will protect, sometimes it will hurt."

Naruto nodded knowingly. The rest of the trip was quiet, mainly because no one decided to speak. The quietly entered the village and made their way to the Mizukage's tower. Naruto noticed the stockade, torn and tattered with a sign reading 'Never again'. He smiled at this.

The entered an office to see a woman sitting in a chair, she wore rather risqué blue dress, that showed her ample cleavage and her red hair was worn in a topknot with a blue ribbon. Her hair covered her left eye and seemed to surround her right. Naruto looked at the woman, but did not stare. While he was impressed with her natural beauty, he wondered if she was similar to Tsunade and was worried more about her appearances than other things. He knew she must be strong to have ascended to the rank of Kage, but he knew from experience that most Kages had a quirk or two that lay just below the surface.

"May I present a squad from Nami no Kuni," Itsuki said, as he knelt before the woman's desk.

The woman nodded, but didn't look up from her paperwork. Naruto closed his eyes and began to center himself, this was an exercise that Haku had been working with him on. It would help him to be able to control his outbursts, at least a little.

Hinata noticed Naruto close his eyes and smiled, hoping that this would help to make sure that there were no international incidents. She carefully watched the woman and noticed that she had completed the work on the desk. She watched as the Mizukage continued to fake writing on the paper before her in a blatant attempt to see what her new visitors would do.

Five minutes later she raised her head and looked at her visitors. She scanned over the two older women, along with the younger one, and then scowled for a second at the blonde male in their ranks. She then glanced back at Hinata, noticing that she was a Hyuuga. She did notice Naruto's eyes open when she looked at him. She also noticed the change in attitude of the boy when her eyes lingered on Hinata. "Greeting, and welcome to Kirigakure no Sato. I see you have our champion and a Hyuuga. What can I do for your intrepid group today?" she asked with a wry grin.

Naruto continued to hold his anger in check, if only barely.

"We came to find something on the North side of the island for a client of ours," Shizune responded.

"And why didn't they ask our village to do the searching?" the Mizukage asked pointedly.

"At the time your leadership was opposed to our client and it would not be beneficial for them to contact your village," Shizune said in a serious tone.

"I see. So, how about now with our new leadership?" the Mizukage asked.

"We have already been paid for this mission and with the civil war that was going on, we weren't sure if your village would be stable enough to either help or oppose us," Shizune said with a fake smile written all over her face.

"Now that it is settled, will you allow us to take this mission?" the Mizukage asked with her own fake smile.

Naruto's anger quickly faded, as he watch the women begin a battle of words.

"Are you saying that this village is incompetent?" the Mizukage asked angrily.

"Of course not, Mizukage-sama, but we were already contracted for this mission and will not allow your village to take this mission from us," Shizune replied with an almost too sweet sounding voice.

"You're not even a village. You're just a bunch of rabble rousers with a couple experienced shinobi," the Mizukage said accusingly.

Shizune smirked at this comment and didn't fall for the ploy for information. "That may be true, but we are aspiring wandering shinobi and have found a home," she said happily.

The Mizukage was enraged and asked in a yell, "You dare to tell me, Terumii Mei, the Fifth Mizukage, that you will not ascend to your place, wandering shinobi?"

"Mizukage, you should control your temper, it would look bad for your subordinates to see you in such a state over a simple mission scroll," Shizune scolded the Mizukage, since she had years of doing this to Tsunade, it appeared to work when the woman before her turned bright red and turned her face down.

The Mizukage took a couple deep breaths and then said, "You're right, I shouldn't act that way in front of the person who helped free us from the oppressive regime of the Fourth." She then looked up at Naruto and the three other women were all aghast at the look in the Mizukage's eyes. She looked at Naruto like a piece of meat, ready to be devoured.

Naruto instinctually took a step back, while Hinata's instincts kicked in and she stepped in front of the blonde.

The Mizukage chuckled at the situation. She only looked at the boy as a stepping stone to be used and then discarded. She didn't need men other than those who were easily controlled. "So the Hyuuga girl has already staked her claim on the boy?" she asked happily.

Everyone was caught off guard by what happened next, even Naruto. Hinata growled at the Mizukage, she actually growled at the woman. Naruto wasn't sure if he should be honored or worried. Hinata had come out of her shell and was an animal that might take a long time to tame or at least become accustomed too.

The Mizukage laughed out loud. "You can have the boy. I'm just happy to have met the boy who saved my village and helped stabilize the country. Tell your leader that you have an ally in Mizu. When he gets a little older he can come and see me for training," she said seductively.

Hinata growled again and said emphatically, "Mine!"

The Mizukage again laughed deeply at the girl's reaction. "You may keep him, young Hyuuga. You may also do your mission with my blessing. I look forward to our next encounter. I might want to visit your leader," she said happily.

Shizune laughed nervously and said, "Thank you Mizukage-sama. We look forward to your visit and will inform our leader about your impending visit."

The Mizukage nodded and then shooed them out of the room. A man walked into the room just after they left. He wore a patch over his right eye and the veins around said socket were receding.

"Your opinion Ao?" the Mizukage asked.

"The group was strong and the girl was a main branch Hyuuga. The boy needed to man up and show some backbone," Ao replied.

'Man up… give her a bone…' the Mizukage thought to herself and began to radiate a huge amount of killing intent, but smiled nicely. "Shut up or I'm going to kill you…" she said in a sweet, but angry tone.

Ao looked at his leader and was confused, but nodded understanding anyways.

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A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this updated, but I think it is worth the wait. While most of my contemporaries are doing either the castle in Neck country or Bird country arcs, I'm off on my own. I hoped you liked this chapter. There will be more to come.


	12. Chapter 12 Finding treasures…

Disclaimer: I claim only the misspellings in this story… you can claim the grammatical mistakes. Hehe…

On to the chapter…

Chapter 12 – Finding treasures…

Naruto shook his head as the group left the building. "Man, she was really weird… thanks for sticking up for me like that, Hinata-chan," Naruto said sweetly.

Hinata blushed and then took his hand. She then whispered into his ear, "I will always be there for you Naruto-kun."

Shizune and Ayane both smiled at the young couple. The team headed out of the village and to the southern tip of the island.

Several hours later Naruto was looking at Shizune like she was crazy. "That rock isn't going to hold," he said, as he looked down the limestone cliff side.

"Just use your chakra," Shizune said sternly.

Naruto looked again and shook his head. "Nope, watch… 'Shadow clone'," he said and a clone appeared next to him. "Go on…"

The clone shook his head and said, "That rock isn't stable enough."

"Just do it," Naruto told the clone.

The clone put on a cheesy grin and said, "Okay, it's my funeral." He focused his chakra and then moved over the edge of the cliff. He made it about three meters before his right foot took a piece of rock and he nearly fell.

"You need more control," Shizune said in a scolding tone.

"Oh yeah, oneesan? I don't see you down here," the clone said back in a derogatory tone. He then shook off the stone and placed his foot again, making sure it was secure. He then took several more steps. He then did a cartwheel to his right. Luckily he did, a piece about seven meters in diameter and two deep broke off from the wall and fell into the sea. "See, unstable. You would have known this if you read the geology book that Anko and Roushi forced me to read," he yelled back up to the others.

"Rope might be a better way," Naruto said, but then continued, "The salt air eats away at the limestone making it really brittle. There is some basalt and granite here, but they allow for the formation of caves in the cliff where the salt water and mist are the strongest." Everyone looked at Naruto in utter surprise. Naruto looked at them and asked, "What? Can't I know a few things?"

Hinata was the first to get over her shock and hugged the blonde, but then wore a worried look when she heard a crack and then a voice yelling, "Good bye cruel world!"

Everyone looked over the edge and saw the clone falling towards the sea with a large chunk of the limestone cliff. The clone poofed out of existence before he hit the water, but then everyone looked at Naruto, since he wore a look of utter dread, Naruto shook it off several seconds later and then moved around the cliff, apparently looking for something. Naruto was kicking off the grass in several locations on the top of the cliff and seemed to finally settle for one location.

"Naruto-kun… what are you doing?" Shizune asked.

Naruto pulled out a hammer-pick and some other tools. "I had an idea that we might need some climbing gear and so I bought some. Good thing I did," he replied, while he hammered in a piton and secured a rope to it. He then continued, "Now where is that cave we need?"

About ten minutes later he had a secure rope hanging over the ledge of the cliff above the cave. Shizune looked at him curiously and asked, "Why are you putting that cloth beneath the rope?"

Naruto chuckled and pulled off piece of the cliff and pointed to the edge of the rock. "It's sharp and would more than likely cut the rope, so I'm using the cloth to protect the rope," he explained.

He chuckled at the three 'oh's'. A few minutes later the team was down in the cave and noticed that it was larger than expected. Naruto pulled out a flashlight and examined the walls. "It's both man and naturally made. There are signs of weathering, jutsu use and actual tools being used here," he explained.

"Naruto-kun… how much time have you been spending in the library?" Shizune asked.

"As much as I can, also I left a couple clones in town to do some research on this area. There is only one left and it is doing the last of the research and should be done soon," Naruto said with a huge grin.

The team moved farther into the cave, but then Naruto stopped them. "Hinata-chan, can you take a look around?" Naruto asked.

Hinata activated her Byakugan and gasped. Naruto had stopped them just before they would be standing on a huge seal and under a second seal. Both were active and had chakra flowing through them. "Naruto-kun, there are two seals facing each other right in front of us. They are both active," she said, she then proceeded to explain the design of the seals to her team.

Naruto sent several clones into the seal and they all disappeared. The team waited for Naruto to respond, but he just sat down and began to draw on a piece of paper. Hinata recognized the drawing as a close facsimile of the one on the floor before the group. She then pointed out where his drawing was off and after several changes he had it and began to decipher it.

"Dang it I wish I understood all these seals," Naruto explained. He then began to mutter to himself about what each seal did, but couldn't piece it together. He finally said, "I have no clue what it does by just looking at the seals, but I do know that my clones were transported elsewhere and they have no idea where. As far as I can tell it isn't a trap, but a test for those who want the treasure."

Naruto not knowing what else to do walked directly onto the seal, Hinata not wanting to be away from Naruto followed quickly. Shizune and Ayane looked on in awe as both disappeared when the seals both lit up.

Naruto found himself and Hinata both being held up by his clones. "Report…" he said.

"We don't seem to be able to leave the seal area," a clone said.

Hinata looked around and found a plaque that read:

_To continue on you must leave a sacrifice, so that you might summon the treasure or else you will be trapped._

Naruto looked at the plaque and then shrugged. 'Hm… summons require blood sacrifice so…' he thought and then bit his thumb.

Hinata looked at Naruto in confusion, because she couldn't understand the possible meanings of the plaque. "What are you doing Naruto-kun?" she asked inquisitively.

Naruto smiled and said, "You need a blood sacrifice for summons, so just cut your finger and wipe it here, then add a little chakra."

Naruto wiped his thumb on a line on the plaque and found himself pulled out of the seal. Hinata followed suit by using a kunai to cut her thumb and was pushed out also, leaving several annoyed clones. Also the torches in the area lit along the passage way. After about ten minutes they came to a great chasm with an entrance on the other side. They saw that it was too far to jump and it would take a long time to get to the bottom and walk back up the other side. Naruto noticed a plaque just back inside the tunnel and read it out loud.

"If you have wings of the heart, you may pass, but do not stray from the path or your soul will plummet to the depths of the earth never to return. What does that mean?" he asked in confusion.

Hinata whispered, "Byakugan…" but then clutched her head in pain. "The walls are full of chakra and I keep on getting double images… it hurts, Naruto-kun," she exclaimed, as she sank to her knees.

Naruto quickly embraced her in a hug and then began to administer a pain relief jutsu. "Take it easy Hinata-chan, don't use your eyes again. This is a trap and thus they thought about how to deal with people who have doujutsu," he explained.

Hinata slumped into his arms and started to breathe more easily. Naruto sat back against the wall and pulled her onto his lap and continued to hug her. Eventually her breathing became rhythmic and steady. Naruto knew that they wouldn't be able to continue for a while, so he summoned a slug and told it to tell Shizune that they were alright and that they were continuing farther down the passage to find the treasure.

Naruto himself took a nap with Hinata still on his chest. He was awoken by a gentle kiss. He opened his eyes to see lavender eyes staring back at him. He smiled warmly at the girl on his lap and then asked, "How are you doing, Hinata-chan?"

She blushed, but said, "Thank you, Naruto-kun, much better now. Not that I wouldn't like to stay here for a LOT longer, but we need to figure out this clue and then continue on."

Naruto nodded and waited for Hinata to stand. He was not sure if he imagined it or not, but when Hinata helped him up, he could have sworn that she had both groped his butt and his crotch. Shaking off the sense that his girlfriend was becoming a pervert, he looked at the area around and then took a step out onto the abyss. He didn't know why he did it, but hey his luck had saved him before. Instead of falling to his doom his foot landed on something solid, but not visible. He took another step and was rewarded by a solid footing. He continued this pattern all the way across the chasm. Hinata followed closely behind, because if her Naruto either went to his doom or needed her help, she was going to be there for him.

They made it to the far side of the chasm and found another plaque that read:

_I am a denizen of the night, but to get to the treasure you must walk how I sleep or suffer the consequences. _

Naruto looked at an equally confused Hinata and asked, "What the hell does that mean?"

"I have no idea Naruto-kun. Why don't you send a clone forward?" she asked.

Naruto complied with a making a seal-less shadow clone, who looked at them like they were crazy, but just shrugged and then walked forward. About twenty feet in the clone noticed several horizontal grooves in the wall, all set about a foot apart. The clone suddenly felt a gust of wind and then felt four very sharp pains before dispersing.

Naruto squirmed from the memories from the clone and then explained what the clone had experienced to Hinata. She and he walked up to the area where the grooves started and noticed that the top eight feet of the hallway lacked the grooves. She thought of an idea. She focused chakra into her feet and then walked up the wall. Naruto followed suit, not wanting to be left behind. They walked to the ceiling of the hallway and walked along and got several dozen feet before they felt a breeze and then nothing. They continued on for another quarter mile and then found that there were stairs on the ceiling, as if someone had built it this way on purpose. They followed the stairs and found a moving wheel with pegs on it. There was also an anchored rope. Hinata took the rope and hooked it on one of the pegs, thus stopping the wheel. Naruto looked behind them and saw several circular blades come out of the wall and grind to a stop within the grooves.

Hinata was breathing hard, because of the excessive chakra use. While it was only enough to cause her to be mildly winded, Naruto was concerned, so he broke out the rations and had them both eat to regain their strength. They ate the meal and talked about nothing in general other than how they would deal with the next challenge.

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Sakura stood before Jiraiya with a downtrodden look on her face. Jiraiya was livid, but also not sure how to deal with this situation. She was a victim to a degree, but she still needed to be punished, but the report from the ANBU had him worried, so he had her examined. The report stated that she had had sexual activity within the last 48 hours and she might be pregnant.

He sighed heavily and then asked, "So what do you have to say for yourself, genin?"

Sakura winced at his emphasis on her title instead of her name. She allowed a tear to fall from her face and hit the floor, but said, "I have no excuse, Hokage-sama. I left the village to be with Sasuke-kun."

"You do realize that he did everything, so as to make his escape easier this time. He killed a couple chuunin while escaping prison. What gets me is that he used you and knew that he could use you to get away," Jiraiya said in an annoyed tone.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama. He knew about my love for him and thus he used it to get what he wanted… he promised he would be with me forever… and that he would always love me…" she replied in halting sobs.

Jiraiya sighed heavily and knew he had a problem. 'I just hope that she is over her love for the boy,' he thought to himself. "I have to put out an order to capture or kill order on the Uchiha. How do you feel about it?" he asked warmly.

She continued to sob, but didn't offer any words to the confused man. He looked at the female ANBU, who just shrugged her shoulders.

"Jeez Haruno, you do know that you're in a whole bunch of trouble, right?" he asked pointedly.

She nodded meekly and replied, "Yes Hokage-sama."

"I'm remanding you to the ANBU light security division and are to be watched twenty-four seven. Your rank as genin is hereby revoked and you will serve no less than six months in prison. Dismissed," he said, as Sakura was lead out of the room by her ANBU guard. He then said to no one in particular, "Do you think I did the right thing?"

The man nodded and said, "I think you did the right thing. Kakashi-sempai didn't do right by them, but she will have a long road ahead of her. Allowing her to be a shinobi or not is up to you, but since she betrayed the village, it is up to you as Hokage to determine what her punishment should be. What I find odd is that she might be pregnant. The doctor said that she is in the middle of ovulating and thus could become pregnant. If so, we must keep this quiet, so that enemies of Konoha and the Uchiha don't find out, especially Sasuke."

Jiraiya nodded and said, "Agreed."

---------------

Several shadowy figures were standing in a cave, several appeared to just be illusions, but all wore black cloaks with red clouds. "We have a problem. Most of the jinchuuriki are in one place, but trying to obtain them would cause a problem, we might kill one or more in the attempt to capture just one of them let alone all of them," the man with concentric rings in his eyes said.

"Fuck that! Let's just grab them all and we can show them at that art is a blast," a blonde said happily.

"Shut up Diedera. Even though I hate to wait, but we must find a way to isolate them and pick them off one or two at a time," a man hunched over explained.

"Enough, we will wait and watch to see what they are up too," the man with rings in his eyes ordered.

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Orochimaru was smiling at the sight before him. Sasuke had left the confines of the Hidden Leaf village and was now here in front of him. While it did annoy him that Kabuto and Sasuke weren't playing nice, it was of little concern to him. "Sasuke-kun… you will rest for today and then tomorrow we shall start your training," Orochimaru said, as he got up and left the room.

"This way Sasuke-kun," Kabuto said, as he led the young Uchiha to what would be his room until they moved to the next base of operations. "By the way how did you get away from Konoha this time and be able to make it to us without being followed this time?"

Sasuke smirked and replied, "I used a stupid girl to throw them off my trail."

Kabuto frowned, but then smiled and said, "I commend you Sasuke-kun on your resourcefulness."

Sasuke just grunted and entered his new room.

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Haku, Gaara, Akemi and Yugito all were at the border between Fire country and Lightning country. "So we are supposed to go to the rendezvous point and wait for Naruto and his team?" Gaara asked in a monotone voice.

"Those were the orders," Yugito replied.

"Aren't we worried that we might run into either Konoha or Kumo shinobi?" Akemi asked.

Yugito shook her head and said, "Kumo shinobi will be easy to deal with and once we cross the border we won't have to worry about Konoha shinobi. Now let's go."

The team then moved out and crossed the border, but Gaara and Yugito shared a look that both agreed that they were not alone and were being followed.

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Jiraiya finally had some time to check over how the village was doing financially and he was not happy. While he was happy that the village was feeling some comeuppance for how they had treated his favorite gaki. They were having trouble now with the embargos from several other smaller countries, while this was disturbing, what was more disturbing were the countries that pulled their support, Wave and Snow being the big names, but he found it odd that a small country was calling for the Hokage to have a summit and that country was Uzu. This didn't bode well, especially after it was nearly destroyed, at least the shinobi portion of the country had been nearly absorbed by Stone.

The note said that they would be there in a month, but it was dated twenty days ago and had been sitting in the piles of paperwork. He quickly created a couple Shadow clones and quickly went through the paperwork to see if any other documents should have had his eye much quicker than before. He found several, including an intelligence report on Kumo having a blonde visitor and that Akatsuki was going to back off for a while. He double checked this information and then went about reorganizing the documents, so that they were in priority. He then spent the next hour talking to Iruka and the others that brought documents to him, so that they would now follow strict guidelines to streamline the paperwork. He showed the chuunin several mission requests that were nearly a month old, one that was time sensitive. This mission had four days left on it and so he put several people who were on his shit list on this mission, Kakashi being one of them. He also gave them three days to complete the mission.

The mission while only a C rank carried with it a large bonus, so he put three jounin on the job. Kakashi took the lead in the mission and left with Genma and Raido to perform the mission. While Genma wasn't on his shit list his skills would more than likely be need to speed up the mission completion.

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Naruto and Hinata finally walked into a room filled with treasure, but it felt off. Naruto heightened his senses and smelled something funny and made sure to avoid the piles of coins and walked towards a large scroll. Hinata looked at him funny, but would follow his instincts, since they had been right so far about the traps they had to avoid.

Naruto examined the scroll and then grabbed it off the pedestal. He then felt the room begin to shake. He turned to see a hole open it the wall and light coming from the hole. Also all the piles of gold changed into cages with scorpions in them. The cages opened and the scorpions started towards the teens. Naruto quickly grabbed Hinata's hand and said, "Let's get out of here!"

They quickly jumped to the doorway only to find that it was beginning to close. They began to run down the hallway and jumped over a small deadfall pit trap. They finally ran up an inclined passageway and headed towards the light. They then noticed that the light was getting smaller as they approached. Both turned on the speed and jumped through the closing opening just before it closed and shut the tunnel off from the world.

It took another twenty minutes to find the cliff face where they had repelled down to the cave entrance. Naruto had send a slug ahead and told them to meet them there. Shizune and Ayane both climbed up to meet with a very tired, but happy Hinata and Naruto. Naruto opened the scroll and found that it was a summoning scroll for bats. Naruto shrugged and signed the scroll in the next available place. He then went through the hand seals to summon and gathered enough chakra to summon a medium slug or toad. Suddenly there was a cloud of smoke and when it cleared it revealed a large erect standing mammal with leathery wings and a face that looked like a fox, of all things.

"**How can I help you sir? You are not of the Koumori clan, so why do you have the contract for their family summons?" **the bat asked pointedly.

Naruto opened the note he had and showed it to the bat.

The bat nodded and said, **"Very well, you are an honorary member and as such shall be treated as such. I will talk to our leader and then return to let you know about your other summons."**

* * *

Kakashi was very annoyed that he was now doing a C-ranked mission wasn't the problem. It was the client that was the problem. Sure they were able to safeguard the 'treasure', but the man just kept grating on his nerves. 'This would have been a great assignment for Naruto,' he thought to himself, only to catch himself and remember that he had been banished and that Jiraiya was pissed at him for not doing his job as sensei the way 'it should be done'. 'If we can last one more day, we can get this done and have the mission completed. The bandits are more of an annoyance than truly being any trouble. It was just that they couldn't seem to either chase the bandits off or kill them. They seemed to have near impossible luck at avoiding any type of death blow.

* * *

Naruto, Hinata, Shizune and Ayane all boarded a ship headed for Lightning country. They would reach the coast in a day or so. Now Naruto had to mill over the conditions of his new summons. He knew that the Koumori clan suffered from anemia, but it seemed that the head of the Bat clan wanted different things for their summons. He wanted either insects, fruits or blood, depending on which was summoned. This was almost as bad as the Toads with their affliction for either candy or chips. He decided that he would get some of each and seal them in a scroll for when he would need the summons, including the toads.

Hinata was now sleeping on Naruto's lap, with a smile across her face. Naruto knew why too. She had asked for them to share a bath when they had a chance. Him being who he was didn't think about and agreed to it before it registered what he had agreed too. Shizune thought about scolding him for it, but thought it in itself would be a fitting punishment for the boy.

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A/N: Another chapter for the books. I hope this cleared up some of the confusion, but also brought some more to my good readers. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed this chapter… Next time: Adventure in the Alps or better known as Lightning country… lol…

Notgonnasay09: I agree and will say that so far as the relationships go, they will work themselves out. Thanks for noticing all the Bijuu and their containers are here. Now for Kirabi (Killerbee), he is hard for a guy who really and I mean really hates rap to write. I know it is mostly rhymes, but I also don't have rhythm, so shoot me. I'm also glad I rate an OK in your book…


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